Question

the base of a ten foot ladder stands six feet from a house. How many feet up the house does the ladder reach

Answer 1

In this problem you will need to use the Pythagorean theorem (c^2=a^2+b^2).
The a and b represents the two edges, while c is the diagonal side and it is called the hypotenuse. Since you already know what the hypotenuse is and what one of the sides already are you just have to use the problem: c^2-a^2=b^2. Then if you plug the data you already have into the problem you will get 10^2-6^2=b^2. That then equals 100-36=b^2. Then you subtract and get b^2=64. Then you square root both sides and you get the answer b=8.