Question

A painter leans a 20-ft ladder against a building. The base of the ladder is 12 ft from the building. To the nearest foot, how high on the building does the ladder reach?

Answer 1

the ladder would reach 16 feet on the building.
Pythagorean theorem helps find this answer. a^2 +b^2 = c^2

Answer 2

using Pythagorean Theorem

you have 20^2 = 12^2 +X^2

400 = 144 +x^2

256 =x^2

x = sqrt(256)

x = 16

the ladder reaches 16 feet up the building