Question

A 35 foot ladder is set against the side of a house so that it reaches up 21 feet. If Elijah grabs the ladder at its base and pulls it 4 feet farther from the house, how far up the side of the house will the ladder reach now? (The answer is not 17 ft.) Round to the nearest tenth of a foot.

Answer 1

`{21}^(2) + {x}^(2) = {35}^(2)`

`{x}^(2) =784`

`x = 28`

`{y}^(2) + {32}^(2) = {35}^(2)`

`{y}^(2) = 201`

`y = √(201) = 14.18`

The ladder will reach about 14.2 feet up the side of the house.