Question

Joshua has a ladder that is 12 ft long. He will lean the ladder against a vertical wall. For safety reasons, he wants the angle the ladder makes with the ground to be no greater than 75°. Is it possible for Joshua to lean the ladder against the wall so that the top of the ladder is at least 11.8 ft above the ground?

Answer 1

We first determine the height that the top of the ladder will reach given that the angle to be made is no greater than 75°. In the right triangle formed, the hypotenuse is 12. The trigonometric function that is derived from the scenario is,
                                     x = (sin 75°)(12 ft) = 11.59 ft
Thus, the highest point that the ladder will reach should only be approximately equal to 11.59 ft.