A freshly-planted sapling is braced by 3 cables attached to a collar secured to the sapling 8 feet up the trunk. each cable is staked into the ground 3 feet from the sapling's trunk. if fastening a cable to the collar uses 8 inches of cable and fastening it to its stake also uses 8 inches of cable, about how much cable has been used
The slant length of each cable can be calculated using Pythagoras Theorem, L= √ (8^2+3^2) = √ (64+9) = √ (73) Total length of each cable T = L + 8/12 + 8/12 = √ (73) + 4/3 Total length of cables required = 3T = 3 ( √ 73 + 4/3) =( 3 √ 73 + 4 ) feet