Question

A woman is trying to remove holiday decorations from the roof of her house by climbing a ladder. The height of her house is 24 feet, and the distance she has to travel on the ladder is 30 ft. How far away is the ladder from the house?

Answer 1

18 ft

Explanation:

We are to determine the base given the hypotenuse and length.

The Pythagoras theorem : a² + b² = c²

where a = length

b = base

c = hypotenuse

30² = 24² + b²

900 = 576 + b²

b² = 900 - 576

b² = 324

square root = 18