Question

A ladder 17 feet long is leaning against a wall. The bottom of the ladder is 8 feet from the base of the wall. How far up the wall is the top of the ladder?

Answer 1

Answer: the top of the ladder is 15 feet up the wall

Explanation:

The attached photo shows the triangle ABC formed by the ladder and the wall. It is a right angle triangle because one of its angles is 90 degrees. The ladder is the hypotenuse of the triangle. To determine how far up the wall that the top of the ladder is,we would find BC by applying Pythagoras theorem

Hypotenuse^2 = opposite ^2 + adjacent^2

17^2 + 8^2 + BC^2

BC^2 = 289 - 64 = 225

BC = √225 = 15