QuestionA ladder leans against a wall at . The base is from the wall. Find the wall height and ladder length.
Studdy Solution
STEP 1
Assumptions1. The ladder makes an angle of with the horizontal.
. The distance from the foot of the ladder to the wall is .
3. We are given the trigonometric values for , , and .
4. We are assuming the wall and the ground meet at a right angle (90 degrees).
STEP 2
We'll first find the height of the wall. We can use the trigonometric relationship of sine, which is defined as the ratio of the opposite side (height of the wall in this case) to the hypotenuse (length of the ladder).
STEP 3
But we don't know the length of the ladder (hypotenuse) yet, so we'll use the tangent of the angle instead, which is the ratio of the opposite side (height of the wall) to the adjacent side (distance from the foot of the ladder to the wall).
STEP 4
Now, plug in the given values for and the adjacent side to calculate the height of the wall.
STEP 5
Rearrange the equation to solve for the height.
STEP 6
Substitute the given value for into the equation.
STEP 7
Calculate the height of the wall.
STEP 8
Next, we'll find the length of the ladder. We can use the trigonometric relationship of cosine, which is defined as the ratio of the adjacent side (distance from the foot of the ladder to the wall) to the hypotenuse (length of the ladder).
STEP 9
Now, plug in the given values for and the adjacent side to calculate the length of the ladder.
STEP 10
Rearrange the equation to solve for the length.
STEP 11
Substitute the given value for into the equation.
STEP 12
Calculate the length of the ladder.
So, the height of the wall is and the length of the ladder is .
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