2. Dan is holding one end of a 26 inch long piece of light string that has a heavy bead on it with each hand (so that the string lies along straight lines). If he starts with his hands together at the start and leaves his hands at the same height, how far does he need to pull his hands apart so that the bead moves upward by 8 inches?
Solution: After he pulls the bead is 5 inches below his hands, and it is 13 inches from each hand. Using the Pythagorean theorem, his hands must be $2 \cdot 12=24$ inches apart.