A ladder is leaning against the side of a brick wall. The base of the ladder is six feet away from the brick wall and the top of the ladder touches the brick wall at a point eight feet from the ground. How long is the ladder?
A.
4 ft
B.
7 ft
C.
10 ft
D
.
14 ft
C. 10 ft
To find the length of the ladder, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. Let x be the length of the ladder. Then we have a right triangle where:
- One leg is 6 ft (the distance from the base of the ladder to the wall).
- The other leg is 8 ft (the height at which the ladder touches the wall).
- The hypotenuse is the length of the ladder (x ft).
Using the Pythagorean theorem:
6^2 + 8^2 = x^2
36 + 64 = x^2
100 = x^2
x = 10
Thus, the length of the ladder is 10 ft.