Question

Max Has a 20 foot ladder he wants to reach a kite that is stuck 15 feet in a tree how far should the base of the ladder be placed from the tree in order to reach the kite

Answer 1

Ladder should be place approximately 13.23 feet from the tree in order to reach the kite.

Explanation:

We have drawn the diagram for your reference.

Given:

Max Has a 20 foot ladder.

So we can say according to diagram.

LK = 20 foot

Also Given:

kite that is stuck 15 feet in a tree

So we can say according to diagram.

TK = 15 feet

We need to find distance of ladder and tree.

According to diagram we need to find LT.

Solution:

The whole situation creates a shape of triangle.

Let us assume the triangle to be right angled triangle.

Now by using Pythagoras theorem we get;

`LT^2+TK^2=LK^2\\\\LT^2=LK^2-TK^2`

Substituting the values we get;

`LT^2=20^2-15^2=400-225 = 175`

Now taking square root on both side we get;

`√(LT^2) =√(175)\\ \\LT \approx 13.23\ ft`

Hence Ladder should be place approximately 13.23 feet from the tree in order to reach the kite.