Question

A building is 48 feet tall. A ladder that is 60 feet long is placed against it so that it meets the top of the

building. How far is the base of the ladder from the base of the building?

Answer 1

Answer: 15 feet

Explanation:

Ans: 15 feet -The base of the ladder should be placed so that it is 1 foot away from the building for every 4 feet of height - So for 60 feet, it should be placed at 60/4 = 15 feet Q.

Answer 2

This problem forms a right angled triangle where the ladder is the hypotenuse, the height of the building is one side, and the distance between the base of the building and the ladder on the ground is the other side. We can use the Pythagorean theorem to solve for the unknown side.

According to the Pythagorean theorem, in a right angled triangle:

(hypotenuse)^2 = (side1)^2 + (side2)^2

In this case, the hypotenuse is the length of the ladder, which is 60 feet, and side 1 is the height of the building, which is 48 feet. Let's call side 2 "d" for distance:

60^2 = 48^2 + d^2

Simplifying, we get:

3600 = 2304 + d^2

Subtracting 2304 from both sides:

1296 = d^2

Taking the square root of both sides:

d = 36

So the distance between the base of the ladder and the base of the building is 36 feet.