The bottom of a ladder is placed 4 feet away from a house and it reaches a height of 16 feet on the side of the house. What is the slope of the ladder?

Question

The bottom of a ladder is placed 4 feet away from a house and it reaches a height of 16 feet on the side of the house.  What is the slope of the ladder?

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1368633818957:dw|The angle "x" is Tan-1 (16/4)

anonymous · Answer

The slope is 4.

anonymous · Answer

That means "x" is the angle whose tan is 16/4.  Use your calculator to find Tan-1 of 4

anonymous · Answer

thanks :D

espex · Answer

Couldn't you just use the points to get the slope? $$\frac{y_2-y_1}{x_2-x_1}$$

anonymous · Answer

If you don't need the angle, just go with 4 for your slope.

anonymous · Answer

btw, the drawing might be easier to see as:|dw:1368634106567:dw|This shows a positive slope, and can be put on the coordinate system in a more understandable way  It's just a reverse of what I drew before.

anonymous · Answer

Since the slope is the "rise" over the "run", you have 16 over 4 to get 16/4 or 4.

anonymous · Answer

All good now, @taliea  ?

anonymous · Answer

yess thank you

anonymous · Answer

uw! @taliea