Question

The bottom of a ladder must be placed 6 feet from a wall. The ladder is 13 feet long. How far above the ground does the ladder touch the wall? Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

Answer 1

The ladder leaning against the wall forms a right triangle. The hypotenuse is the slanted ladder (13). The distance from the wall is the bottom of the triangle (6) and the height the ladder touches the wall is what we are trying to find out. Use the Pythagorean theorem a^2+b^2=c^2

So 6^2 + h^2= 13^2; h^2+36=169; h^2=133 h= square root of 133 or 11.5

Explanation: