The base of an 11-foot ladder is 5 feet from a building.if the ladder reaches the flat roof, how tall is the building

Answer 1

You have a right triangle where the base is 5 feet. The ladder is the hypotenuse = 11 feet. You need to find the other side of that triangle. You know the Pythagorean theorem: a² + b² = c² where a is the height, b is the base and c is the hypotenuse. Therefore, a² + (5)² = (11)².

 

a² = 121 - 25 = 96

a = 9.79 feet.