A 17-ft ladder lean

Question

A 17-ft ladder leans against a building so that the angle between the ground and the ladder is  84∘.

How high does the ladder reach on the building? Round to the hundredths. (2 decimal places) 

Answer 1

This is a basic Sine-Cosine-Tangent Right Triangle. Once you make the Right Triangle, you will see that the ladder represents the hypotenuse and you are solving for the height (which is the opposite). So, the equation is Sin 84⁰ = h / 17

h = 17 ( Sin 84^o )

h = 16.91 ft.

Answer 2

Draw and label a diagram!

h represents the height

sin 84° = h / 17

17 sin 84º = h