Question

A painter leans a 25-ft ladder against a building. The base of the ladder is 7 ft from the building. To the nearest foot, how high on the building does the ladder reach?

Answer 1

The easiest way to solve this problem would be to use the pythagorean theorem. Plug in the information you know. 25 will have to be c because it is the hypotenuse. You can plug 7 in for a or b. It does not matter which one you plug 7 in for because you will still get the same answer. 

This is what it should look like:
7^2 + b^2 = 25^2

Now solve the equation. 
7^2 = 49
25^2 = 625

The new equation will be 49 + b^2 = 625

Now subtract 49 from 625. 

625 - 49 = 576

b^2 = 576

Now take the square root of both sides to get b by itself. 

b = 24

Your answer should be: The ladder reaches 24 ft. high on the building.