Question

A 15-foot-long ladder leans against a building such that it reaches a height of 12 feet . Assuming the building is vertical and the ground horizontal, we want to find out how far from the base of the building the bottom of the ladder lies.

(a) Draw a right angle on the picture based on the information given.

(b) Are we missing the hypotenuse or a leg of the right triangle?

(c) Find the missing side ( your answer will be a rational number).
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Answer 1

a) right triangle = one angle has to be 90 degrees (form the letter "L")

b) we are missing a leg

c) 9

Explanation:

`a^(2)` +
`b^(2)` =
`c^(2)`

`12^(2)` +
`b^(2)` =
`15^(2)`

144 +
`b^(2)` = 225

-144. -144

`b^(2)` = 81

`√(b)` =
`√(81)`

b =. 9