Question

an 8 feet ladder leans against the side of a house. how far is the bottom of the ladder from the side of the house when the angle of elevation of that ladder is 61 degrees? round your answer to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

Since it's a right angled triangle,

taking 61 as reference angle,

cos61 = b/h

or, cos61 = b/8

or, b = cos61.8

so, b = 3.9 feet

The bottom of the ladder is 3.9 feet away from the side of the house.