Question

The 3rd floor of a building is 40 feet from the ground. If the fire department extends their ladder to 60 feet long, how far from the base of the building do the fire department have to place their ladder? Write to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

To find out how far from the base of the building the fire department needs to place their ladder, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. The fire department needs to place their ladder approximately 44.7 feet from the base of the building.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find out how far from the base of the building the fire department needs to place their ladder, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the longest side) is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides. In this case, the ladder is the hypotenuse, the height of the building is one side, and the distance from the base of the building to the ladder is the other side. Let's call the distance we need to find 'x'. Using the theorem, we can set up the equation: x^2 + 40^2 = 60^2. Solving for 'x', we get:

x^2 + 1600 = 3600

x^2 = 2000

x ≈ √2000 ≈ 44.7

So, the fire department needs to place their ladder approximately 44.7 feet from the base of the building.