Question

the top of a fence post is 5 ft above the ground. a telephone pole is 35 ft from the base of the fence post. if the telephone pole is 40 ft high, find the distance from the top of the fence post to the top of the telephone pole. (round your answer to the nearest tenth of a foot) 49.2 feet 49.5 feet 48.3 feet 48.9 feet 48.6 feet

Explanation:

Step1: Calculate height difference

The height difference between the top of the telephone - pole and the top of the fence post is $40 - 5=35$ ft. The horizontal distance between them is 35 ft.

Step2: Apply Pythagorean theorem

Let the distance between the top of the fence post and the top of the telephone pole be $d$. According to the Pythagorean theorem $d=\sqrt{35^{2}+35^{2}}$.
First, calculate $35^{2}+35^{2}=35^{2}\times(1 + 1)=35^{2}\times2$. So $d=\sqrt{35^{2}\times2}=35\sqrt{2}\approx35\times1.414 = 49.49\approx49.5$ ft.

Answer:

49.5 feet