Question

A 50 foot ladder is set against the side of a house so that it reaches up 48 feet. If Jack

grabs the ladder at its base and pulls it 4 feet farther from the house, how far up the
side of the house will the ladder reach now? (The answer is not 44 ft.) Round to the
nearest tenth of a foot.

Answer 1

1.4 feet

let me know if you get it right hope i helped!

Answer 2

14

Explanation:

a2+(48)2=

502\,\,50^{2}502

Use the Pythagorean Theorem.

a2+2304=a^{2}+2304=a2+2304=

2500\,\,25002500

Simplify.

−2304-2304\phantom{=}−2304=

−2304\,\,-2304−2304

Subtract 2304 from both sides.

a2=a^{2}=a2=

196\,\,196196

a2=\sqrt{a^{2}}=a2

​=

±196\,\,\pm\sqrt{196}±196

​

Square root both sides.

a=a=a=

14\,\,1414

Simplify. Ignore negative root, as length must be positive.