Problema Solution
A man wants to make a tent by tossing a 20ft. Long tarp over a tree branch that is 6ft. Above the ground so that 10ft. Of the tarp is on each side. Determine the width of the base of the tent
Answer provided by our tutors
Make a good drawing and notice the isosceles triangle with height h = 6ft and two equal sides with length b = 10 ft each.
We need to find the length of the third side a (the width of the tent).
Using the Pythagorean Theorem we have:
(a/2)^2 = b^2 - h^2
(a/2)^2 = 10^2 - 6^2
(a/2)^2 = 64
a/2 = 8
a = 16 ft
the width of the base of the tent is 16 feet.