Question

A building has a ramp to its front doors to accommodate the handicapped. If the distance from the building to the end of the ramp is 17 feet and the height from the ground to the front doors is 7 feet, how long is the ramp? (Round to the nearest tenth.)
a4.9 ft
b 15.5 ft
c 18.4 ft
d9.9 ft

Answer 1

The ramp (its profile view) forms a right triangle with side lengths equal to 7 ft and 17 ft, where 7 ft is the height of the ramp, and 17 ft is the distance of the building to the end of the ramp.

The length of the hypotenuse represents the length of the ramp.

From the Pythagorean theorem:

$|AC|^{2} = |AB|^{2} + |BC|^{2}$

$|AC|^{2} = 17^{2} + 7^{2}= 289+49=338$

$|AC|= \sqrt{338}= 18.4$ (ft)

Answer: 18.4 ft