Question

The top of an antenna tower is 125 ft. above level ground. The tower is to be guyed 20 ft. from its top to a point on the ground 80 ft. from the base of the tower· What is the length of the guy wire?

Answer 1

o see what is going on, we simply draw a triangle. Since the tower is 125 feet high, but the guy wire is 20 feet from the top, the triangle is 125 - 20 = 105 feet high, then 80 feet long.

Using the pythagorean theorem, 105^2 + 80^2 = g^2

g^2 = 11025 + 6400 = 17425

g = sqrt(17425)

g = 132.0038 feet = 132 feet

Hope this helps!