Question

The cat is 12 feet above the ground and the ladder is 9 feet away from the tree because of the mud. How long does the ladder needs to be to reach the tree

Answer 1

15 feet

Explanation:

The ladder is the hypotenuse of a right triangle, with the legs being 9 ft and 12 ft long (see the picture).

To solve for the length of the ladder, use the Pythagorean Theorem.

`9^(2) +12^(2) =c^(2) \\c=\sqrt{9^(2) +12^(2)} \\c=√(81+144) \\c=√(225) \\c=15`