Louise is painting around a window frame in the outside of her house. Her ladder is 3.5m long and she placed it 1.0m from the house.
a) What is the slope of the ladder?
b) if she wants to follow the 1 in 4 rule, is this ladder safe?
** I got 3.5 m for question a ,but not sure if it’s correct and I don’t have a clue how to do b. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
cosine of the slope angle is ... 1 / 3.5
not sure about (b) ... but base to height makes sense
... anything less than 1:4 is probably unsafe
Thank you for your help :)
a) To find the slope of the ladder, we can use the formula for slope:
Slope = Rise / Run
In this case, the ladder forms a right triangle with the ground and the house wall. The length of the ladder (3.5m) represents the hypotenuse of the triangle. The distance between the ladder and the house wall (1.0m) represents the vertical side (rise) of the triangle.
Therefore, the slope of the ladder can be found by dividing the rise (1.0m) by the run (horizontal distance) of the triangle. Since the run is the distance between the ladder and the house wall, it is the base of the triangle.
Slope = Rise / Run = 1.0m / Base
Since we do not have the measurement of the base, we cannot determine the exact slope of the ladder.
b) The 1 in 4 rule is a safety guideline that indicates for every 1 unit of height gained while climbing a ladder, the base of the ladder should be positioned 4 units away from the wall.
In Louise's case, the ladder is 3.5m long, and it is positioned 1.0m from the house. To determine if the ladder follows the 1 in 4 rule, we need to calculate the base distance.
Base distance = Ladder length / 4 = 3.5m / 4 = 0.875m
Comparing the calculated base distance of 0.875m with the actual distance of 1.0m, we can see that the ladder does not meet the 1 in 4 rule. The ladder is placed closer to the wall than recommended, indicating that it may not be safe according to the 1 in 4 guideline.
It's important to note that there may be additional safety factors to consider, such as the sturdiness of the ladder, condition of the ground, and the weight or force applied on the ladder. Always prioritize safety while working at heights and consult professional guidelines or experts when in doubt.