Question

A 12 ft ladder leans against a wall so that the base of the ladder is 5 ft from the wall How high, to the nearest foot, up on the wall will the ladder reach?

Answer 1

Answer: 10.9, about 11 ft

Explanation:

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

a^2 + (5)^2 = (12)^2

Answer 2

The ladder is the hypotenuse and one side equals 5 feet.

From the Pythagorean Theorem we can calculate the other side:

other side^2 = 12^2 -5^2

other side^2 = 144 -25

other side^2 = 119

other side = 10.9087121146

Rounding, we get 11 feet.

Explanation: