Question

A 20 foot ladder is resting against the side of the house the base of the latter is 4 feet away from the house approximately how high above the ground is the latter touch the house

Answer 1

The ladder resting against the house forms a triangle similar to the one in the image below

To answer this question you must use Pythagorean theorem

$a^{2} +b^{2}=c^{2}$

a and b are the legs (the sides that form a perpendicular/right angle)

c is the hypotenuse (the side opposite the right angle)

In this case...

a = x

b = 4

c = 20

^^^Plug these numbers into the theorem

$x^{2} +4^{2} =20^{2}$

solve for x

$x^{2}$ + 16 = 400

$x^{2}$ = 384

x = 8√6

or

x ≈ 19.5959....

Hope this helped!

~Just a girl in love with Shawn Mendes