Question

kyle works as an electrician. he sets up a ladder to reach the top of an electrical pole 12 ft in the air. the base of the ladder is 5 ft from the pole. while the electrian is gathering tools, the ladders base slides 1 ft farther from the pole. how far up does the ladder reach?

Answer 1

First, find the length of the ladder, which is the hypotenuse in this scenario.

`a^2 + b^2 = c^2\\5^2 + 12^2 = c^2\\c = 13`

Then, find the new height once the ladder has slid:

`a^2 + b^2 = c^2\\6^2 + b^2 = 13^2\\b = 11.53`

The ladder reaches about 11.53 feet up the pole.