Question

5. A 17-foot ladder is leaned against a wall. If the

base of the ladder is 8 ft from the wall, how high up
the wall will the ladder reach?

Answer 1

15 feet

Explanation:

Always draw out a diagram! Especially once you get to physics, its just best to be in the habit. There are a few ways we could solve this problem, but lets stick to the pythagorean theorem. a^2 + b^2 = c^2 .

so in this case, when we substitute its

a^2 + 8^2 = 17^2

a^2 + 64 = 289

a^2 = 225

a = 15

Therefore, the ladder reaches a height of 15 feet against the building.