Question

John is painting the side of a building that is 30ft tall.
The ladder is at a 68 degree angle with the ground. while standing on the ladder the highest point John can reach is 4 ft above where the ladder touches the wall. What is the shortest ladder John can use to reach the top of the building?

I think I am suppose to use the pythagorean theorem. But he degrees is throwing me off.

Answers

Pythagorus won't help here.

Your ladder must reach up 26 ft. That means that the ladder's length x is given by

26/x = sin 68°

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