Camilla needs to fix the window on the front of her house. The bottom of the window is 16 feet from the ground. She only has a 20 foot 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?
To find the distance from the base of the house to set up the ladder, we can use the Pythagorean theorem.
Let x be the distance from the base of the house to the bottom of the ladder, and let y be the distance from the bottom of the ladder to the bottom of the window.
Using the Pythagorean theorem, we have:
x^2 + 16^2 = 20^2
x^2 + 256 = 400
x^2 = 144
x = 12
Therefore, Camilla should set up the ladder 12 feet away from the base of the house.