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How long must a ladder be to reach the top of 20” wall if the ladder and the wall form a 32 angle at the top

How long must a ladder be to reach the top of 20” wall if the ladder and the wall-example-1
User VVN
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2 Answers

0 votes

Answer:

23.97 ft

Explanation:

In this question apply the expression for determining cosine of an angle.

Cosine of an angle x°=length of the adjacent side÷hypotenuse


Cos\alpha =(A)/(H)

where α is the angle in degrees, A is the adjacent side length, and H is the hypotenuse

Given α=32° and A=20ft H=?

Applying the expression


Cos\alpha =(A)/(H) \\\\Cos32=(20)/(H) \\\\0.8342=(20)/(H)\\ \\H=(20)/(0.8342) =23.97

In this case, the length of the ladder represents the hypotenuse side of the triangle which will be 23.97 ft

User DjOnce
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5.9k points
2 votes

Answer: 23.58

Explanation:


cos\theta=(adjacent)/(hypotenuse)\\\\\\cos(32^o)=(20)/(x)\\\\\\x=(20)/(cos(32^o))\\\\\\x=23.58

User Sam Scott
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7.5k points