Question

A 20-foot ladder is leaned against a wall. If the base of the ladder is 8 feet from the wall, how high up on the wall will the ladder reach? Round the answer to the nearest tenth.

Question options:

21.5 ft


18.3 ft


15.7 ft


19.1 ft

Answer 1

`18.3\ ft`

Explanation:

we know that

Applying the Pythagoras theorem

see the attached figure to better understand the problem

`h^(2)=20^(2)-8^(2) \\ \\ h^(2)=400-64\\h^(2)=336\\ \\h=√(336) \\ \\h=18.3\ ft`