Question

Mr. Pena is leaning a ladder against the side of his house to repair the roof. The top of the ladder reaches the roof, which is 3 meters high. The base of the ladder is 4 meters away from the house, where Mr. Pena's son is holding it steady. How long is the ladder?

Answer 1

In this case, the ladder acts as the hypotenuse, and the height of the roof and the distance from the base of the ladder to the house act as the other two sides. So we have: The ladder is 5 meters long.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the length of the ladder, we can use the Pythagorean theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides.

In this case, the ladder acts as the hypotenuse, and the height of the roof and the distance from the base of the ladder to the house act as the other two sides.

So we have:

Ladder^2 = Height^2 + Distance^2

Ladder^2 = 3^2 + 4^2

Ladder^2 = 9 + 16

Ladder^2 = 25

Ladder = √25 =5

Therefore, the ladder is 5 meters long.