Question

if you place a 5ft ladder against the top of a 4ft building how many feet will the bottom of the ladder be from the bottom of the building?​

Answer 1

3 ft.

Explanation:

When you imagine the sentence, it is a right angled triangle. In this case, it's a Pythagoras Theorem. The formula for it is:

a²(opposite) + b²(adjacent) = c²(hypotenuse)

The building is the opposite, the distance between the foot of the ladder and the building is the adjacent, while the ladder is the hypotenuse.

We have the measurements except for the adjacent. So it will be:

c² - a² = b²

5² - 4² = b²

25 - 16 = b²

9 = b²

√9 = b

b = 3 ft

The answer is 3 ft.