A cable is attached to a pole 24 ft above ground and fastened to a stake 10 ft from the base of the pole. In sequence to remain the pole perpendicular to the ground, how long is the cable?

The links of the pole with the ground forms the right angle of a triangle. The length of the pole is a leg within the right triangle. The distance among the stake and the pole is also a leg inside the right triangle. The question is to ?nd out the length of the cable, that is the hypotenuse.  Using the Pythagorean Theorem:  24² + 10² = c²; 576 + 100 = c²; 676 = c²; 26 = c. If you chose a, you thought the hypotenuse, quite than a leg, was 24 ft.