You place a ten foot ladder against a wall. If the base of the ladder is 3 feet from the wall, how high up the wall does the top of the ladder reach? HINT: Draw a diagram before you start the problem!
apx. 10.4 feet
apx. 7 feet
apx. 9.5 feet
apx. 109 feet
+3454 Well, I'm sure someone else can explain the correct way to do this, but I just used my reasoning to knock off two answers.
10.4 feet wouldn't make sense becuase it's a 10 foot ladder.
109 feet couldn't make sense for obvious reasons.
So now our two options are 9.5 feet and 7 feet.
Well, this is a right triangle we're dealing with, so we can use the pythagorean theorem. (a^2 + b^2 = c^2)
7 feet didn't work, so it has to be 9.5 feet.
7^2 + 3^2 = 10^2
49 + 36 = 100
85 ≠ 100
+3454 I'm not sure how to solve this, but here's a diagram. :)
I'm sure someone else can help you solve this.
Just by using reason though, I can tell you that a good aproximation for an answer would be aprox. 9.5 ft, becuase the other answers don't make much sense....
+3454 Well, I'm sure someone else can explain the correct way to do this, but I just used my reasoning to knock off two answers.
10.4 feet wouldn't make sense becuase it's a 10 foot ladder.
109 feet couldn't make sense for obvious reasons.
So now our two options are 9.5 feet and 7 feet.
Well, this is a right triangle we're dealing with, so we can use the pythagorean theorem. (a^2 + b^2 = c^2)
7 feet didn't work, so it has to be 9.5 feet.
7^2 + 3^2 = 10^2
49 + 36 = 100
85 ≠ 100
+11912 i dont know why but still nothings going in my head after ur so nice explaination!Thanks for the explaination though!Thumbs up from me!
i hope someone maybe able to explain me easily!
Pythagoras states that a^2 + b^2 = c^2. This means that the distance from the base to the wall multiplied by itself (equal to b^2) added to the height multiplied by itself (equal to a^2) is equal the length of the ladder multiplied by itself (equal to c^2). The question you have presents not the units of a and b but the numbers b and c. This means that Pythagoras must be rearranged to get c^2 - b^2 = a^2. Substitute (Place in the numbers) the numbers c and b and we get 10^2 - 3^2 = a^2 which is the height of the wall from base to the ladder. 10^2 = 100 and 3^2 = 9 meaning a^2 = 91. To get a from a^2 we sqaure root (find the number we multiply be itself to get 91). This get 9.5393920141694564915262158602323. Round this to 9.5 meaning your height is 9.5.
+130511 Note, rosala, that we have a right triangle with a hypoteneuse = 10. We know one "leg" = 3. So, we're just trying to find the other "leg."
All we need to do is to square the 10 = 100.
Then. square the 3 = 9
Subtract the "smaller" from the "bigger" = 100 - 9 = 91
And take the square root of the answer √91 ≈ 9.5 ft. !!!
And there's the other "leg"
If we knew both "legs," we would just square both of them, add the results, and take the square root. That would give us the hypoteneuse!!
Does that make sense???
