A 6 meter ladder is leaning on a vertical wall. The foot of the ladder is being pulled at a rate of 0.15m/s. Calculate the rate of which the height of the ladder is decreasing when the ladder is 3 meters off the ground.

Question

anonymous · Answer

I started by doing $$\frac{ dH }{ dT } =\frac{ dH }{ dR }*\frac{ dR }{ dT }$$

anonymous · Answer

If that is correct, I need a formula for dH/dR which I don't have.

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1426819087307:dw|   $$(x+0.15)^2+H^2=6^2$$ I'm not sure, but, I think that's the one you're looking for

anonymous · Answer

solve for H...no wait, that's not right...unless you call the distance from the wall x, and then i'm kind of lost

anonymous · Answer

does that help at all?

anonymous · Answer

$$(0.15x)^2+H^2=6^2$$