"Published in Vacaville, California, USA"
A pole 26 ft. long leans against a wall at a point 10 ft. from the ground. What is the length of the projection of the pole on the ground?
Solution:
To illustrate the problem, it is better to draw the figure as follows
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| Photo by Math Principles in Everyday Life |
Let's assume that the wall and the ground are perpendicular to each other.
Let y = be the length of the projection of the pole on the ground.
By Pythagorean Theorem, the length of the projection of the pole on the ground is
