# length of a wire?

• August 19th 2009, 07:07 AM
exlimation point
length of a wire?
hey guys i need some help on a problem. you dont need to do it for me just push me in the right direction.

A wire reaches from the top of a 13-meter pole to a point on the ground 9 meters away from the base of the pole. What is the legnth of the wire to the nearest tenth of an inch?

thank you.
• August 19th 2009, 07:41 AM
artvandalay11
This is a basic application of the pythagorean theorem (i hope as I doubt this is a question from an advanced physics class)

The length of one of the sides is 13 feet and the other side is 9 feet so we need the lenght of the hypotneuse

$side^2+side^2=hypotneuse^2$
• August 20th 2009, 03:23 AM
aidan
Quote:

Originally Posted by exlimation point
...

A wire reaches from the top of a 13-meter pole to a point on the ground 9 meters away from the base of the pole. What is the legnth of the wire to the nearest tenth of an inch?

Convert meters to inch length.
Then solve the equation given by artvandalay11.
That assumes that the pole is vertical AND that the ground is level.