Question

A cat is stuck on the roof. If the ladder is 12 feet long and must be placed seven feet away from the building. How high can the ladder reach up the building to help save the cat?

Answer 1

9.75 feet

Explanation:

You use the pythagorean theorem to solve. A is the unknown, while b is 7 feet, and c is 12 feet

A^2 + 7^2 = 12^2

A^2 + 49 = 144

Subtract 49 from both sides to get

A^2 = 95

then take the square root of both sides to get

A (the height) = 9.74679434481

I usually round to 2 decimal points to get the answer 9.75 feet.