Question

While painting the side of his house, Jason positioned his ladder so that the top was 16 feet

Answer 1

Answer: $8.71\ ft$

Step-by-step explanation:

Given

Ladder is 16 ft from bottom and 12 away from the base of the wall

In another case ladder is 18 ft above the ground and let say x ft away from the base of the wall

In both the cases the length of ladder remains the same

Using Pythagoras theorem, we can write

$\Rightarrow 16^2+12^2=L^2\ldots(i)\\\Rightarrow 18^2+x^2=L^2\ldots(ii)\\\text{From (i) and (ii)}\\\Rightarrow 16^2+12^2=18^2+x^2\\\Rightarrow x^2=256+144-324\\\Rightarrow x^2=76\\\Rightarrow x=\sqrt{76}\\\Rightarrow x=8.71\ ft$