Draw a line from Gwendolyn to the tree and extend it to obtain a diameter of the tree. The distance from Chet to the tree is zero.
Approximately 29.6 feet
Practice makes perfect
Let's make a diagram that illustrates the given situation. We will represent the tree with a circle. Since Chet is standing next to the tree, his distance to the tree is 0.
Now, let's extend the line from Gwendolyn to the tree so that we draw a diameter of the circle.
As we can see, a tangent and a secant intersect in the exterior of the circle. Therefore, the square of the measure of the tangent is equal to the product of the measures of the secant and its external secant segment.
27^2 = 16(d+16)
Finally, to find the diameter of the tree let's solve the equation above for d.
