a 27 feet tall ladder is placed so that it reaches 25 feet up on the wall of the house. How far is the base of the ladder from the wall of the house. Please help.
25^2 + h^2 = 27^2
now just solve for h
Use the Pythagorean Theorem. In this problem, the ladder is the hypotenuse.
I'll be glad to check your answer.
To find the distance between the base of the ladder and the wall of the house, we can use the Pythagorean theorem.
The Pythagorean theorem states that in a right triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse (the longest side) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides.
In this case, the ladder forms the hypotenuse of the right triangle, and the wall of the house and the distance between the base of the ladder and the wall form the other two sides.
Let's call the distance between the base of the ladder and the wall of the house "x".
According to the Pythagorean theorem:
(Length of the ladder)^2 = (Length of the wall)^2 + (Distance between the base and the wall)^2
Substituting the given values:
27^2 = 25^2 + x^2
729 = 625 + x^2
104 = x^2
To find x, we take the square root of both sides:
√104 = √(x^2)
√104 = x
Now, calculating the square root of 104, we get:
x ≈ 10.198
Therefore, the base of the ladder is approximately 10.198 feet away from the wall of the house.