Question

Mr. Smith was doing repairs to a section of the wall of his house. He uses a ladder that is 6 feet tall to get to a section that needs fixing. If the foot of the ladder is 3 feet away from the base of the wall, how high up the wall will the ladder reach? Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a foot.

Answer 1

5.19 ft

Step-by-step explanation:

From the image below, we apply pythagora's theorem.

Hyp^2 = adj^2 + opp^2

Hyp = 6f

Adj = 3ft

Opp = x

6^2 = 3^2 + x^2

36 = 9 + x^2

36 - 9 = x^2 = 27

x^2 = 27

x = square root (27)

x = 5.196 ft