Question

Solve the problem:

A ladder that is 17 feet long is 8 feet from the base of a wall. How far up the wall does the ladder reach?

Answer 1

17 feet duh its a trick question

Answer 2

For this case we can solve the problem by using the Pythagorean theorem.

We know:

1) Length of the ladder representing the hypotenuse

2) Length from the wall to the base of the ladder, which represents the base of the triangle.

We want to know:

1) The height of the triangle that represents the height of the wall that the ladder reaches.

We have then:

`h = √(17^2-8^2)`

`h = √(289-64)`

`h = √(225)`

`h = 15`

Answer:

The ladder reaches a height of 15 feet.