Math  /  Geometry

Question1 2 4
A ladder leans against the side of a house. The top of the ladder is 20 ft from the ground. The bottom of the ladder is 15 ft from the side of the house. Find the length of the ladder. If necessary, round your answer to the nearest tenth. \square ft

Studdy Solution

STEP 1

1. The ladder, the side of the house, and the ground form a right triangle.
2. The top of the ladder is 20 ft from the ground, which is one leg of the triangle.
3. The bottom of the ladder is 15 ft from the side of the house, which is the other leg of the triangle.
4. We need to find the hypotenuse of the triangle, which is the length of the ladder.

STEP 2

1. Identify the right triangle components.
2. Apply the Pythagorean Theorem.
3. Solve for the hypotenuse.
4. Round the answer to the nearest tenth if necessary.

STEP 3

Identify the components of the right triangle: - One leg is the distance from the ground to the top of the ladder: 20 ft. - The other leg is the distance from the side of the house to the bottom of the ladder: 15 ft. - The hypotenuse is the length of the ladder, which we need to find.

STEP 4

Apply the Pythagorean Theorem, which states that in a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse c c is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides a a and b b : c2=a2+b2 c^2 = a^2 + b^2
In this case: c2=202+152 c^2 = 20^2 + 15^2

STEP 5

Calculate the squares of the legs: 202=400 20^2 = 400 152=225 15^2 = 225

STEP 6

Add the squares of the legs to find c2 c^2 : c2=400+225 c^2 = 400 + 225 c2=625 c^2 = 625

STEP 7

Solve for c c by taking the square root of both sides: c=625 c = \sqrt{625} c=25 c = 25

STEP 8

Since the answer is already a whole number, no rounding is necessary.
The length of the ladder is:
25 \boxed{25} ft

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