Question

A ladder leans against a building. The foot of the ladder is 6 feet from the building.The ladder reaches a height of 14 feet on the building. Find the length of the ladder to the nearest foot.

Answer 1

Use the Pythagorean Theorem
6 feet and 14 feet are the "legs" and the ladder length is the hypotenuse.
hypotenuse^2 = 6^2 + 14^2
hypotenuse^2 = 36 + 196
hypotenuse^2 = 232
hypotenuse = 15.2315462117
ladder length = 15 feet

Source:
http://www.1728.org/pythgorn.htm