A zip-line at a water park runs from the top of a wall, down to the ground on the other side of a pool. The top of the zip cord is 45 ft above the ground and the zip-line is 500 ft long. What is the horizontal distance between the wall and the end of the zip-line? Round your answer to the nearest foot.

498 ft

Step-by-step explanation:

The zip-line, wall and end of the zip-line to wall form a right-angled triangle.

Since the zip-line which is 500 ft long represents the hypotenuse side, the top of the zip cord to the ground represents one side of the triangle which is 45 ft long and the third side is represented by the horizontal distance between the wall and the zip-line.

By Pythagoras' theorem,

L² = h² + d² where L = length of zip-line = 500 ft, h = height of top of zip cord from ground = 45 ft and d = horizontal distance between the wall and the zip-line.

So, d² = L² - h²

d² = (500 ft)² - (45 ft)²

d² = 250,000 ft² - 2025 ft²

d² = 247,975 ft²

d = √247,975 ft²

d = 497.97 ft

d ≅ 498 ft

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