Question

Your school principal wants the custodian to put a new flag up on the flagpole. If the flagpole is 40 feet tall and they have a 50 foot ladder, approximately how far from the base of the pole can he place the base of his ladder in order to accomplish the task?

Answer 1

A = 30 ft

Explanation:

Use the pythagorean theorem, A^2 + B^2 = C^2

Since the ladder is longer than the flagpole and leaning on it, we can assume the ladder is the hypotenuse (aka C), and the flag pole is one of the sides.

So plug that into the equation.

A^2 + 40^2 = 50^2

A^2 + 1600 = 2500

Now we want to isolate A on one side to solve the rest.

A^2 = 900

Squaroot 900

A = 30 ft

----

Good to know:

Right triangles have. a ratio of, 3,4,5

So if you know the two longest side are 40 and 50, then we can assume the shorter side is 30