mmais68569 Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 Well it has been a few years since I was in high school math & want to check if I am right on my mega tree. I am useing a ploe that is 20' tall I am useing lights that are 25' strings. Now if my math is still good useing the 3,4,5 formula for a triangle my lights should come 15' out from the base, correct. 4x5= 20 which is the height of the pole. 5x5= 25 which is the lenght of the lights which should mean 3x5=15 which is how far out the lights will be. If I am wrong please let me know . Thanks Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 the 3,4,5 rule is for a right triangle. However you are applying it incorrectlythe hypotenuse of the triangle is the square root of the sum of the sqares of the other 2 sides. For example. if the 2 sides of the right triangle are 3 and 4 then that is 3 squared or 9 plus 4 squared or 16.9+16=25 the sqare root of 25 is 5.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmais68569 Posted November 15, 2008 Author Share Posted November 15, 2008 Thanks Chuck but tell me how far out from the base will my lights be? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmoore60 Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 in your case the hypotenuse is 25' lights squared or 625.Your trunk is 20 feet tall squared or 400625-400=225square root of 225 is 15.Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan78 Posted November 15, 2008 Share Posted November 15, 2008 How is your tree mounted?I use a 20' pole also, but it is mounted in a sleeve in the ground the is 2' deep. So it is actually only 18' out of the ground. So if your tree is similar like that, you will need to account for those extra 2' feet you are losing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmais68569 Posted November 16, 2008 Author Share Posted November 16, 2008 I am useing an old TV antenna pole that is 23' overall I am putting it ina sleeve of PVC & in the ground 3' with 3 guy wires. Hope to have my son help me get it up next weekend. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan78 Posted November 16, 2008 Share Posted November 16, 2008 Have you ever used the TV antenna pole before? I have read some people using them and they buckled under the weight. Not sure how many lights they were using it. The ones I have seen I can see that happening with a lot of lights. If you don't have many it should be fine.If you haven't yet check out this mega tree calculator...http://www.planetchristmas.com/Excel/MegaTreeCalculator.xls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmais68569 Posted November 17, 2008 Author Share Posted November 17, 2008 The pole I am useing is at least 30+ years old back when they made real metal. Pluse I have shortened the top pole by about 2-3' & I will place pvc pipe over the top section to keep it from bending. This will be the first year I have used it & will have about 4800 lights total in 2 colors. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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