Question

A 15 ft. Ladder is placed against a building so that the distance from the top of the ladder to the ground is 10 ft. Find the distance (to the nearest tenth) from the bottom of the ladder to the building

Answer 1

11.2 ft

Explanation:

Assuming the building meets the ground at right angles, the right triangle formed has side length 10 ft and hypotenuse 15 ft. Then the other side length (d) is given by the Pythagorean theorem as ...

d² + 10² = 15²

d² = 225 -100 = 125

d = √125 = 5√5 ≈ 11.2 . . . feet

The bottom of the ladder is about 11.2 feet from the building