Question

If you have a 24 foot ladder that is leaning against the building and touching the ground 6 feet from the building. How high up the building is the top of the ladder?



(1 point)
Responses

6^2+b^2=24^2; 24.7 ft
6 squared plus b squared is equal to 24 squared ; 24.7 ft

6^2+b^2=24^2; 23.24 ft
6 squared plus b squared is equal to 24 squared ; 23.24 ft

a^2+24^2=6^2; 23.24 ft
A squared plus 24 squared is equal to 6 squared ; 23.24 ft

24^2+6^2=c^2; 24.7 ft

Answers

GPT-4o mini
To find out how high the ladder reaches up the building, we can use the Pythagorean theorem. According to the Pythagorean theorem, in a right triangle:

\[ a^2 + b^2 = c^2 \]

where \( c \) is the length of the hypotenuse (the ladder), \( a \) is the height the ladder reaches up the building, and \( b \) is the distance from the base of the ladder to the building.

In this scenario:

- \( c = 24 \) feet (the length of the ladder)
- \( b = 6 \) feet (the distance from the base of the ladder to the building)

We need to find \( a \), the height the ladder reaches up the building. Plugging into the equation, we have:

\[ a^2 + 6^2 = 24^2 \]

Calculating \( 6^2 \) and \( 24^2 \):

\[ 6^2 = 36 \]
\[ 24^2 = 576 \]

Now we can substitute these values back into the equation:

\[ a^2 + 36 = 576 \]

Subtract 36 from both sides:

\[ a^2 = 576 - 36 \]
\[ a^2 = 540 \]

Now, take the square root of both sides to find \( a \):

\[ a = \sqrt{540} \]
\[ a \approx 23.24 \text{ feet} \]

Thus, the height that the top of the ladder reaches on the building is approximately **23.24 feet**.

The correct response is:

**6 squared plus b squared is equal to 24 squared; 23.24 ft**.