A cable 22 feet long runs rom the top of the utility pole to a point on the ground 15 feet from the base of the pole

Question

A cable 22 feet long runs from the top of a utility pole to a point on the ground 15 feet from the base of the pole. How tall is the utility pole?

Answer 1

This is another right triangle question. You have the 22 foot cable as your c value and the ground length of 15 feet as your "a" value you are looking for the length of the pole or your b value

Plug in the values you know into the pythagorean theorm

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

15^2 + b^2 = 22^2

225 + b^2 = 484

Solve the equation for b by subtracting 225 from each side and then taking the square root of both sides

b^2 = 259

b = square root of 259

Answer 2

22-15 = 7 feet

Comments

I think you are misunderstanding the question. The cable runs all the way to the ground but makes a triangle because it ends up 15 feet away from the pole.  It does not stop 15 feet above the ground.  I do feel the wording of the question is a bit unclear however. At first I thought the cable extended to 15 feet above the ground.