Problema Solution
the top of a ladder is placed against the side of a house. the ladder is 15 ft long and the wall is 12 feet high. how far from the wall will the base of the ladder be positioned if the top of the ladder meets the top of the wall?
Answer provided by our tutors
Let
d = 15 ft the length of the ladder
h = 12 ft the height of the wall
x = the distance of the base of the ladder to the wall, x>=0
Since the ladder, the wall and the ground make a right triangle we will use the Pythagorean Theorem:
x^2 + h^2 = d^2
plug the values for 'h' and 'd' into the above equation:
x^2 + 12^2 = 15^2
........
click here to see the equation solved for x
........
x = 9 ft
We are not taking into account the negative solution -9 since the distance can not be negative.
The distance of the base of the ladder to the wall is 9 feet.