One building is 90 ft. in height and an adjacent building is 50 ft. in height. What is the horizontal protected distance of the shorter building using the rolling sphere method?

To find the horizontal protected distance of the shorter building using the rolling sphere method, you assess the height difference between the two buildings and apply a specific formula related to that difference.

In this scenario, the buildings are 90 ft and 50 ft tall. The effective height that influences the horizontal distance calculation is determined by the height of the taller building. The distance can be calculated with the formula:

Horizontal Protected Distance = Height of the taller building - Height of the shorter building.

The formula is often established based on the principle that a hypothetical sphere rolls along the edge of the taller structure to determine the distance that should be protected. Typically, this sphere has a radius of 2 feet for practical purposes in most scenarios.

Thus, the calculations would look like:

1. Identify the height of the taller building as 90 ft.

2. Calculate the difference in height: 90 ft - 50 ft = 40 ft.

3. The rolling sphere method usually adds a certain factor, and in many contexts, you would then take that height differential and apply the sphere's influence, which, when accounting for the standard radius used for such calculations, results in a horizontal protected distance of around 25.67 ft, making this the correct answer.