Question

If you place a 13-foot ladder against the top of a 12-foot building, how many feet will the bottom of the ladder be from the bottom of the building?

Answer 1

5 feet

Explanation:

When you place a 13-food ladder against the top of a 12-foot building, the ladder becomes the hypotenuse of the right angle triangle formed.

Let x be the distance of the bottom of the ladder away from the bottom of the building.

Using the Pythagoras Theorem we obtain:

`{x}^(2) + {12}^(2) = {13}^(2)`

This implies that:

`{x}^(2) + 144 = 169`

`{x}^(2) = 169 - 144`

`{x}^(2) = 25`

`x = √(25)`

`x = 5`

The bottom of the ladder will be 5 feet away from the bottom of the ladder