Problema Solution
a 10 foot ladder is leaning against a house. The foot of the ladder is 4 feet from the base of the house. How farup the side of the house does the ladder reach?
Answer provided by our tutors
since the wall of the house is perpendicular to the ground we can consider the right triangle with dimensions:
a = 4 ft one leg of the right triangle
c = 10 ft the hypotenuse of the right triangle
b = ?
using Pythagorean Theorem we have
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
4^2 + b^2 = 10^2
by solving the equation we find and consider the positive roots (the length can not be a negative number)
b = 9.1.7 ft
click here to see the step by step solution of the equation
the ladder reaches 9.17 ft up the side of the house.