Determine the Height

Question

How high is the peak of a roof from the attic floor if the house is 40 feet wide and the pitch of the roof is 1 to 4?

The height is ________ feet.

Answer 1

draw a side view of the top of the house--a triangle with base 40 ft wide. assume that the peak of the roof is above the midpoint of the 40 ft attic floor width. then h/20 = 1/4;   solve for height h, in ft.

 

i used denominator 20 because that's the base of the RIGHT triangle whose vertical leg accounts for the rise of the roof, for a run of 20 ft.