Question

A 13-foot ladder leaning against a building

touches the building exactly 12 feet above
the ground. How far from the building is
the base of the ladder rounded to the
nearest hundredth foot?

Answer 1

The distance from the building to the base of the ladder is 17.69 feet.

Explanation:

We have,

A 13-foot ladder leaning against a building touches the building exactly 12 feet above the ground.

It means 13 foot ladder is hypotenuse and 12 feet is height.

It is required to find the distance from the building to the base of the ladder. It means we need to find hypotenuse. Using Pythagoras theorem,

`H=√(b^2+h^2) \\\\H=√(12^2+13^2) \\\\H=17.69\ ft`

So, the distance from the building to the base of the ladder is 17.69 feet.