You have a rental company come and set up a tent for a wedding banquet. Each pole is 7 feet tall and the 20 foot-long rope goes from one stake to an eyelet at the top of the pole and back to the other stake. What is the equal distance each stake will be away from the base of the pole?

Answer and explanation:

The connection of the rope from the stake to the pole will form a triangle so that one side is the hypotenuse(the rope), another is the opposite side(the pole) and the other is the adjacent side(the distance from the stake to the pole).

The unknown side is the adjacent side which is the distance from the stake to the pole. To find an unknown side in a triangle in this form, we use the Pythagorean theorem.

Therefore c²=a²+b²

c=20ft

a= 7ft

b= unknown

So we use the formula to find unknown side(distance from stake to base of pole)

20²=7²+b²

400=49+b²

b²=400-49

b²= 351

b=√351

b= 18.735ft

Therefore distance from stake to base of pole = 18.735 feet