Question

The angle made by the ladder with the ground is degrees, and the length of the ladder is inches.

Answer 1

59°

58.3 inches

Explanation:

Here is the full question :

A ladder is placed 30 inches from a wall. It touches the wall at a height of 50 inches from the ground. The angle made by the ladder with the ground is degrees, and the length of the ladder is inches.

Please check the attached image for a diagram explaining this question

The angle the ladder makes with the ground is labelled x in the diagram

To find the value of x given the opposite and adjacent lengths, use tan

tan⁻¹ (opposite / adjacent)

tan⁻¹ (50 / 30)

tan⁻¹ 1.667

= 59°

the length of the ladder can be determined using Pythagoras theorem

The Pythagoras theorem : a² + b² = c²

where a = length

b = base

c = hypotenuse

√(50² + 30²)

√(2500 + 900)

√3400

= 58.3 inches

Answer 2

59.04°

58.31 inches

Explanation:

The solution triangle is attached below :

Since we have a right angled triangle, we can apply trigonometry to obtain the angle ladder makes with the ground;

Let the angle = θ

Tanθ = opposite / Adjacent

Tanθ = 50/30

θ = tan^-1(50/30)

θ = 59.036°

θ = 59.04°

The length of ladder can be obtained using Pythagoras :

Length of ladder is the hypotenus :

Hence,

Hypotenus = √(adjacent² + opposite²)

Hypotenus = √(50² + 30²)

Hypotenus = √(2500 + 900)

Hypotenus = 58.309

Length of ladder = 58.31 inches