Question

A ladder needs to reach a second-story window that is 12 feet above the ground and make an angle with the ground of 68º. How far out from the building does the base of the ladder need to be positioned? Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

To find the distance the base of the ladder needs to be positioned, you can use the sine function. The base of the ladder needs to be positioned approximately 13.0 feet out from the building.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the distance the base of the ladder needs to be positioned, we can use the sine function. The sine of an angle is equal to the opposite side divided by the hypotenuse. In this case, the opposite side is the height of the window (12 feet) and the hypotenuse is the length of the ladder. So we can write the equation as:

sin(68°) = 12 feet / x

where x represents the distance from the base of the ladder to the building. Solving for x, we find:

x = 12 feet / sin(68°) = 12 / 0.9239 ≈ 13.0 feet

Therefore, the base of the ladder needs to be positioned approximately 13.0 feet out from the building.