Question

A 12-m ladder is leaning against a wall.

The foot of the ladder is 3 m from the base of
the building. How far up the wall is the top
of the ladder?

Answer 1

Explanation:

Use Pythagorean's Theorem for a right triangle. Your best bet when learning/visualizing word problems is to draw a picture, then learn how to visualize in your head over time.

`3^2+x^2=12^2\\9+x^2=144\\x=√(135)`

The radical can be further simplified because 135 is the product of 9 and 15. 9 has a perfect root of 3.

`x=3√(15)` meters or 11.62 meters