Answer: the distance from the base of the ladder from the building is 10 feet.
Explanation:
The ladder forms a right angle triangle with the wall of the building and the ground.
The length of the ladder represents the hypotenuse of the right angle triangle.
The distance, h of the base of the ladder from the building represents the adjacent side of the triangle.
To determine h, we would apply
the cosine trigonometric ratio.
Cos θ = adjacent side/hypotenuse. Therefore,
Cos 60 = h/20
h = 20Cos60 = 20 × 0.5
h = 10 feet