Ladder Problem

Question

A ladder touches a bench and leans on a wall 4 m above ground. If the bench is 50cm high and the base is 1 m away from base of the ladder, what’s the distance from wall to base of the ladder?

Answer 1

Draw and label a diagram!

d represents the distance from the base to the bench.

Using similar triangles:

 

0.5 : 4 :: 1 : d + 1    proportion

(4)(1) = (0.5)(d + 1)

 

Can you solve for d and answer?