Two poles are place 15 feet apart. One pole is 8 ft high and the other pole is 16 ft high. The top of each pole is attached to the base of the other by cable which run in a straight line.

Question

-Find the slopes of the lines defined by the two ropes.
-How high above the ground is the point where the two cables cross?

Answer 1

Two rt. triangles are formed with the
ropes representing 7he hyp. of the
triangles.

The smaller Triangle:
m = TanA = Y/X = 8/16 = 0.50

The Larger Triangle:
m = TanA = Y/X = 16/16 = 1.00