Question

A ladder 7 m long stands on level ground and makes a 73° angle with the ground as it rests against a wall. How far from the wall is the base of the ladder?

Answer 1

Answer:

2 ft from the wall

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Answer:

2 m

Step-by-step explanation:

We can use the sine law for this problem.

Assuming that the ladder makes a 90° angle with the wall, we can calculate the final angle in the triangle, by adding the two given angles and subtracting from 180°.

180° - (90° + 73°) = 17°

Here we can see that the remaining angle is 17°.

With this, we are given all three angles of the triangle and one side length. Thus, we have enough information to use sine law.

If you recall, sine law can be defined with Sin A/a=Sin B/b=Sin C/c.

We can input the side length, and use two angles correlating to our wanted sides.

Angle A = 17°

Angle B = 90°  

Side a = unknown

Side b = 7m

Inputting this into our equation…

sinA/a = sinB/b

sin17°/a = sin90°/7

a = 7sin17°/sin90°

a = 2.05 m

Therefore, the ladder is about 2 m from the wall.

Hope this helps!! :)