Question

If you place a 37-foot ladder against the top of a 12-foot building, how many feet will the bottom of the ladder be from the bottom of the building?l

Answer 1

Answer:

35 ft

Step-by-step explanation:

Picture the ladder leaning against the building as the hypotenuse of a right triangle. Now picture the building as a leg of a right triangle. Now, you can use the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the last leg:

(if you don't know what the Pythagorean Theorem is lmk and I'll explain it)

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

12^2 + b^2 = 37^2

144 + b^2 = 1369

b^2 = 1225

b = 35