Question

Andrew needs a ladder to hang hoilday lights. His house is 24ft tall and he has a flower bef that extends 4 ft out from the side of the house. How long of a ladder will he need to reach the top and be out of the flower bed

Answer 1

Answer: $24.33\ ft$

Step-by-step explanation:

You need to draw a Right triangle as the one attached, where "x" is the lenght of a ladder Andrew will need to reach the top and be out of the flower bed.

You must apply the Pythagorean Theorem. This is:

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

Where "a" is the hypotenuse and "b" and "c" are the legs of the Right triangle.

If you solve for "a", you get:

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

In this case, you can identify in the figure that:

$a=x\\\\b=24\ ft\\\\c=4\ ft$

Therefore, knowing those values, you can substitute them into  $a=\sqrt{b^2+c^2}$ and then you must evaluate, in order to find the value of "x".

This is:

$x=\sqrt{(24\ ft)^2+(4\ ft)^2}\\\\x=24.33 ft$