The four blades of a helicopter meet at right angles and are all the same length. The distance between the tips of two adjacent blades is 36 ft. How long is each blade? Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

Question

Mathematics

Alvarado

22 January, 09:33

The four blades of a helicopter meet at right angles and are all the same length. The distance between the tips of two adjacent blades is 36 ft. How long is each blade? Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

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Answers (1)

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Cory Shepard · Answer 1

If you visualize the problem, the blades form a circle when viewed on top. The distance between the two adjacent tips is like an arc length of a circle, denoted as S. Its formula is r*theta, where theta is the angle opposite to the arc. Since there are 4 blades and a circle has a total of 360 degrees, theta = 360/4 = 90. We have to convert it to radians first: 90 degrees * (pi/180 degrees) = pi/2

S = r*theta

36 = r * (pi/2)

r = 22.92 ft

Thus, each blade has a length of 22.92 feet.