Question

Suppose you are completely locked out outside of your house. You remember that you left your bedroom window, which is 12 feet above the ground, unlocked from the inside (meaning you can climb up the window if you have a ladder, which you do!). You go to your garage, grab the 20 ft ladder and place it so that it reaches exactly to your bedroom window. What is the angle of elevation needed to reach your window? How far away will the bottom of the ladder be from your house?

Answer 1

A diagram of the situation is shown below:

In order to determine the angle of elevation x, use the sine function, as follow:

sin x = opposite side/hypotenuse

the opposite side is the distance from the ground to the wi