Question

How long a ladder must you have to reach the top of a 15-foot wall if the bottom of the ladder is placed 4 feet from the base of the wall? Round to the nearest tenth of a foot.

Answer 1

15.5 is the correct answer

Explanation:

Answer 2

Set up a triangle with the ladder being the hypotenuse the wall being one side and the distance away being the other side. Now use pythagorean theorem a^2+b^2=c^2
4^2+15^2=c^2
16+225=c^2
241=c^2
C=15.52 now round
C=15.5 feet