AB is a vertical trunk of a huge tree with A being the point where the base of the trunk touches the ground. Due to a cyclone, the trunk has been broken at C which is at a height of 12 meters, broken part is partially attached to the vertical portion of the trunk at C. If the end of the broken part B touches the ground at D which is at a distance of 5 meters from A, then the original height of the trunk is:

To solve this problem, visualize the tree before and after it breaks. 1. The trunk was originally a straight vertical line AB. It breaks at point C. 2. The height from the ground A to the break point C is given as 12 meters. This forms the vertical side of a right angled triangle. 3. The broken part of the tree, which was originally the segment CB, falls over and touches the ground at point D. This broken part CD becomes the hypotenuse of the right angled triangle. 4. The distance from the base of the tree A to the point where the top touches the ground D is given as 5 meters. This is the base of the triangle. 5. Using the Pythagorean theorem for the triangle CAD: Square of the hypotenuse CD is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. 6. CD squared = AC squared + AD squared. 7. CD squared = 12 squared + 5 squared = 144 + 25 = 169. 8. Taking the square root of 169, we find that CD is 13 meters. 9. Since CD is the part of the trunk that fell over, the original height of the tree was AC + CD. 10. Original height = 12 meters + 13 meters = 25 meters. Therefore, the original height of the trunk is 25 meters. The correct option is B.