Sally's cat is stuck in a tree 18 ft off the ground. The base of a ladder is placed 6 feet away from the base of the tree. What
is the minimum length ladder needed to reach the cat (rounded to the nearest foot)? A) 18 ft Reactivate B) 19 ft C) 20 ft D) 21 ft
how would i figure this out?
how would i figure this out?
2 answers:
If you aren't familiar with the Pythagorean Theorem, I suggest you learn about it. http://www.1728.org/pythgorn.htm
Looking ay my graphic, you see that the tree, the ladder and the 6 foot space on the ground form a right triangle. In a right triangle the longest side is called the hypotenuse. (the ladder).
The Pythagorean Theorem states that
the hypotenuse squared = one side squared + the other side squared.
So the ladder length squared = 18 foot tree squared + 6 fee squared
That's easier to state with numbers.
ladder length squared = 18 * 18 + 6 * 6
ladder length squared = 324 + 36
ladder length squared = 360
To get the ladder length, we take the square root of 360 which equals
<span> <span> <span> 18.973665961 </span> </span> </span> so rounding to the nearest foot we need a
19 foot ladder.
Looking ay my graphic, you see that the tree, the ladder and the 6 foot space on the ground form a right triangle. In a right triangle the longest side is called the hypotenuse. (the ladder).
The Pythagorean Theorem states that
the hypotenuse squared = one side squared + the other side squared.
So the ladder length squared = 18 foot tree squared + 6 fee squared
That's easier to state with numbers.
ladder length squared = 18 * 18 + 6 * 6
ladder length squared = 324 + 36
ladder length squared = 360
To get the ladder length, we take the square root of 360 which equals
<span> <span> <span> 18.973665961 </span> </span> </span> so rounding to the nearest foot we need a
19 foot ladder.
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