Question

Chandra has a ladder that is 20 feet long. If the top of the ladder reaches 16 feet up the side of a building, how far from the building is the base of the ladder?

(use Pythagorean Theorem)

Answer 1

12 feet

Explanation:

when you have c (the hypotenuse) and a (the opposite side) but you need to find b (the base) you have to flip around the theorm from a^2 + b^2 = c^2 to c^2 - a^2 = b^2.

then you plug in your numbers: 20^2 - 16^2 = b^2

then you solve the exponents: 400 - 256 = b^2

and subtract: 144 = b^2

lastly you square root both sides to get your answer: 12 = b

hope this helped :))