Question

the bottom of a ladder must be placed 10 feet from a building. The ladder is 26 feet. How far above the ground does the ladder touch the wall?

Answer 1

The ladder touches the wall at 24 feet from the ground.

Explanation:

The wall of the building, the ground, and the ladder form a right triangle, whose longer side is the length of the ladder.

In any right triangle, we can apply Pythagora's theorem to find any missing side length.

The ladder is 26 feet in length, the distance from the bottom of the ladder and the building is 10 feet. Calling H to the distance above the ground where the ladder touches the wall, then:

`26^2=10^2+H^2`

Calculating:

`676=100+H^2`

Solving:

`H^2=676-100`

`H^2=576`

`H=√(576)`

H=24 feet

The ladder touches the wall at 24 feet from the ground.