A painter leans a 20-ft ladder against a building. The base of the ladder is 12 ft from the building. To the nearest foot, how high on the building does the ladder reach?

Question

anonymous · Answer

just to be sure, is the illustration like this?
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anonymous · Answer

it has no picture, and im not sure how it would look like :/ @Hidden_Twilight

anonymous · Answer

well, if it's like that. just use the Pythagorean theorem which is b = sqrt(c^2  +  a^2).

anonymous · Answer

if only i kknew how to do that :/

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1375157035906:dw|

anonymous · Answer

let a = 12 ft and c = 20 ft
were looking for b therefore:

b^2 = c^2 - a^2
try to solve?

anonymous · Answer

@mayankdevnani

anonymous · Answer

A painter leans a 20-ft ladder against a building. The base of the ladder is 12 ft from the building. To the nearest foot, how high on the building does the ladder reach

anonymous · Answer

b^2=c^2-a^2
b^2=20^2-12^2
b^2=400-144
b^2=256
b=sq rt of 256 =16ft

Therefore the ladder will reach 16ft on the building