A 20-foot-tall flag pole casts a shadow that is 15 feet long. Which of the following correctly uses the Pythagorean Theorem to solve for the distance from the top of the flag pole to the tip of its shadow? 35,13.2,25, or 625
The correct answer is 25.
To solve for the distance from the top of the flag pole to the tip of its shadow, we can create a right triangle with the flag pole as the vertical side, the shadow as the horizontal side, and the distance we want to find as the hypotenuse.
Using the Pythagorean Theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides, we can set up the equation as:
(20)^2 + (15)^2 = x^2
400 + 225 = x^2
625 = x^2
x = √625
x = 25
Therefore, the correct answer is 25.