ch. 5.7-5.8 homework

Question

A l-foot ladder, l = 10, is leaning against a building. The base of the ladder is d = 6 feet from the side of the building. How high does the ladder reach along the side of the building?

 

ft=?

Answer 1

Hypotenuse 10, leg d of right triangle = 6, you should recognize that this makes a 6-8-10 right triangle!

 

Answer: 8 ft.  Remember the 3-4-5 right triangle; this situation is doubly interesting.

 

If all else fails, make a side-view drawing and label the givens, then use Pythagorean Theorem...but I'm suggesting a quick shortcut using the basic Pythagorean triples.