Question

A 20 foot ladder is leaned against a wall. if the base of the ladder is 8 feet from the wall, how high up the wall will the ladder reach? Round to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Use the Pythagorean theorem.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

8^2 + y^2 = 20^2

64 + y^2 = 400

y^2 = 336

y = √336 = 4√21 ≈ 18.33