Question

If you place a 89-foot ladder against the top of a 80-foot building, how many feet will

the bottom of the ladder be from the bottom of the building?

Answer 1

`\large \boxed{\text{39 ft}}`

Explanation:

Let x be the distance from the foot of the ladder to the base of the building.

We have a right triangle, so we can use Pythagoras' Theorem.

`\begin{array}{rcl}80^(2) + x^(2)& = & 89^(2) \\6400+ x^(2) & = & 7921\\x^(2) & = & 1521\\x & = & √(1521)\\& = &\mathbf{39}\\\end{array}\\\text{The foot of the ladder will be $\large \boxed{\textbf{39 ft}}$ from the base of the building,}`