Answer:
Step-by-step explanation:
This is a right triangle trig problem. The height of the tree is the height of the triangle, and the length of the wire is the hypotenuse of the triangle. Using Pythagorean's Theorem, we can find the length of the base, which is how far he must secure the bottom of the wire from the base of the tree.
[tex]5^2=4^2+x^2[/tex] and
[tex]25=16+x^2[/tex] and
[tex]9=x^2[/tex] so
x = 3 m
