Question

In assaulting a castle wall that is 24 m high, the army must also span a moat that is

18 m wide. Assuming the wall is perpendicular to the ground, what is the minimum
length of the ladder in order to reach over the moat to the top of the wall?

Answer 1

At-least 30 m

Explanation:

Solution:-

- Taking the length of the ladder = L

- The width of the moat surrounding the castle, w = 18 m

- The height of the castle wall, h = 24 m

- To model a situation we will draw a right angle triangle with hypotenuse denoting the Ladder with "L" over the moat against the wall of the castle.

The perpendicular dimension will denote the height " h " of the castle wall.

The base over which the ladder must extend horizontal parallel to moat of width " w ".

- Using pythagorean theorem we can determine the length of the ladder " L ", as follows:

L^2 = h^2 + w^2

L^2 = 24^2 + 18^2

L^2 = 576 + 324

L = √900

L = 30 m

Answer: The minimum length of the ladder must be 30 m for the enemy to cross over the moat on top of the wall of the castle.