Question

The base of a 14 foot ladder is 3 feet from a building if the ladder reaches the flat roof how tall is the building? The height of the building The height of the building Approximately

Answer 1

To answer this question, we will use the following diagram as reference:

To determine h, we will use the Pythagorean theorem. Recall that the Pythagorean theorem states that:

$c^2=a^2+b^2,$

where a and b are the lengths of the legs of a right triangle and c is the hypotenuse length.

Therefore:

$h^2+(3ft)^2=(14ft)^2.$

Solving the above equation for h, we get:

$h=\sqrt[]{196ft^2-9ft^2}.$

Simplifying the above result, we get:

$h=\sqrt[]{187}ft.$

Answer:

$h=\sqrt[]{187}ft\approx3.6979ft\text{.}$