Roxanne is standing directly beneath a kite attached to a st

[reynol2m]

Roxanne is standing directly beneath a kite attached to a string which Ralph is holding with his hand touching the ground. The height of the kite at the instant is 15 feet less than the distance betwen Roxanne and Ralph. The length of the kite string is 15 feet more than that distance. Find the length of the kite string.

I just don't know were to start I get so :? confused on this type of problem. can you please help me understand.

 

[stapel]

I would start by drawing the picture, noticing the right triangle, picking a variable for the distance between the two people, labelling the three sides of the triangle with expressions (in terms of the variable) for each of the three lengths, and then consider the Pythagorean Theorem.

Eliz.