Question

Larry needs to change a light bulb in the celling. Larry leans a 16 foot ladder against the wall with its base 5 feet away from the wall. Which is the closest to the distance of the height of the wall to the top of the ladder?

Answer 1

In this case, we'll have to carry out several steps to find the solution.

Step 01:

Data

ladder = 16 feet

base = 5 feet

height = ?

Step 02:

Pythagoras Theorem Formula

c ² = a² + b²

16 = c

5 = b

height = a

16² = a ² + 5²

16² - 5² = a²

`\sqrt[]{231\text{ }}\text{ = a}`

15.2 = a

The answer is:

The distance to the top of the ladder is 15.2 feet