Camila needs to fix the window on the front of her house. The bottom of the window is 16 ft. from the ground. She only has a 20 ft. ladder. How far from the base of the house should she set up the ladder so that the top of the ladder is exactly at the bottom of the window?(1 point)
To set up the ladder, Camila needs to place the base of the ladder a certain distance away from the house so that the top of the ladder reaches the bottom of the window.
Since the bottom of the window is 16 ft. from the ground and Camila has a 20 ft. ladder, the ladder needs to be placed 16 ft. above the ground to reach the window.
To find out how far from the base of the house Camila should set up the ladder, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. The ladder, the distance from the base of the house, and the height of the ladder form a right triangle.
Let x be the distance from the base of the house to the ladder. Using the Pythagorean theorem, we have:
x^2 + 16^2 = 20^2
x^2 + 256 = 400
x^2 = 400 - 256
x^2 = 144
x = √144
x = 12
Therefore, Camila should set up the ladder 12 ft. from the base of the house.