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A 14 foot ladder is leaning against a building. The ladder makes a 56°angle with the ground. How high up the building is the ladder? Round to the nearest tenth

User Dpritch
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Final answer:

The height at which the 14-foot ladder reaches up the building, when it makes a 56° angle with the ground, is approximately 11.6 feet.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve how high up the building the ladder reaches, we will use trigonometry, specifically the sine function, as we are dealing with a right triangle where we know the angle the ladder makes with the ground and the hypotenuse (the ladder's length). The sine of an angle in a right triangle equals the opposite side (height, in this case) over the hypotenuse (the ladder's length).

The sine of 56° is (≈ 0.8290). So the equation we will use is:

sin(56°) = Height / 14 feet

Therefore, to find the height:

Height = 14 feet * sin(56°)

Which is approximately:

Height = 14 feet * 0.8290

Height = 11.606 feet, rounded to the nearest tenth, is 11.6 feet.

This is the height the ladder reaches up the building.

User Sam Rao
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