help me pls

Question

help me pls

umerlodhi · Answer

a 40 ft ladder leans against a building so that the top of the ladder touches the building at a point 21 ft above the ground to the nearest tenth of a foot how far from the bottom of the building is the bottom of the ladder

mathmale · Answer

Draw and label an illustration.  think about how you would use the Pythagorean Theorem to find the solution to this problem.

umerlodhi · Answer

k

umerlodhi · Answer

im thinking 34 feet is that correct? @mathmale

mathmale · Answer

Please show your calculations, so that I can follow your reasoning.

umerlodhi · Answer

k i typed it in a sticky note one sec

umerlodhi · Answer

some guy helped me a little bit The ladder is leaning against the wall of the building. It is the hypotenuse (opposite from the 90 degree right angle) and the other side is the height of the wall, and the other side, it doesn't really matter how we label it. We are told that a right triangle is formed, and the ground and the wall form a "perfect L" so we can identify the hypotenuse. 

Hypotenuse^2 = opposite^2 + adjacent^2 

40^2 = 21^2 + a^2 

1,600 = 441+ a^2 

1,600 - 441 = 441 -441 + a^2 

1159 = a^2 

√1159 = √a^2

umerlodhi · Answer

it came out to 34.1 feet and the only choice close to that is 34 so should i  submit it?

mathmale · Answer

Yes, that's a good way to handle this problem.  "Best fit."