Question

5. A ladder leans against a building. The top of the ladder touches the building 10 feet above the ground. The foot of the

ladder is 4 feet from the building. Find, to the nearest degree, the angle that the ladder makes with the level ground.
(3 points)

Answer 1

68 degrees

Explanation:

The ladder, the building and the ground together make up a right triangle with angle of elevation to be determined.

The side opposite this angle is 10 ft; the distance of the foot of the ladder from the building is 4 ft. Thus,

tan x = (opp side) / (adj side) = 10/4. Using the inverse tangent function, we find that the angle in question is

arctan (10/4) = 68 degrees