Question

A fireman leans a ladder against a building. The base of the ladder is 5 feet from the building. The ladder is 13 feet long. How far up the side of the building is the top of the ladder?

Answer 1

12 ft

Using 13 for c, and 5 for a, you can use Pythagorean’s theorem a^2+b^2=c^2 to find b, the height

5^2+b^2=13^2

25+b^2=169

b^2=144

b = 12