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33 votes
33 votes
4. A 40 foot ladder is leaning against the side of a building. If the bottom of the ladder is 24

feet away from the base of the building, how far up the side of the building does the ladder
reach? Draw a picture and show your work. (2 points)
35.47€

User Snels Nick
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1 Answer

16 votes
16 votes
First you start by drawing a right triangle. the longest side is the length of the ladder (40ft) and will be represented by variable c. Label the vertical side as a and the horizontal side as b(24 ft).

we will use a^2 +b^2 =c^2 to find it. plug in the variables and it will be a^2 + 24^2 = 40^2 which simplifies to a^2 + 576 = 1600. you then isolate the variable by subtracting 576 from 1600. our new equation is a^2 = 1024. we take the sqrt of a^2 and 1024 so our final equation is a=32 ft. the answer is 32 feet.
User Ehpc
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2.8k points