Can you help me for this?

A tree needs to be staked down before a storm. If the ropes can be tied on the tree trunk 17 feet above the ground and the staked rope should make a 60° angle with the ground, how far from the base of the tree should each rope be staked? Round to the nearest foot?

Question

Can you help me for this?

A tree needs to be staked down before a storm. If the ropes can be tied on the tree trunk 17 feet above the ground and the staked rope should make a 60° angle with the ground, how far from the base of the tree should each rope be staked? Round to the nearest foot?

imstuck · Answer

I can help you with this.  It's more trig than calc, thank God!

imstuck · Answer

|dw:1404628179834:dw|

imstuck · Answer

Are you familiar with the tangent function?  It says that tan(60) = side opposite/side adjacent.  In terms of our values it is$$\tan(60)=\frac{ 17 }{ x }$$

imstuck · Answer

Solving for x you will get$$x=\frac{ 17 }{ \tan(60) }$$Which makes x = 9.8 or 10, rounded to the nearest foot.

imstuck · Answer

I hope you're still around tonight to see this~!~

imstuck · Answer

TY for the medal!