Ah, the shortest ladder dilemma! Well, let me bring out the clown calculator and see what we've got here.
So, we have a fencing situation, a 5-foot-tall fence that stands parallel to a tall building. And it's cheekily positioned 3 feet away from the building, just to make things interesting.
To determine the length of the shortest ladder that can reach from the ground over the fence to the building, we can use a delightful little geometric trick called the Pythagorean Theorem.
In plain English, we have a right triangle, where the height of the fence is one leg, the distance from the fence to the building is the other leg, and the ladder is the hypotenuse. Let's do some clown math!
According to the Pythagorean Theorem, the square of the hypotenuse (the ladder) is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. So, we have:
Ladder² = Fence Height² + Distance to the Building²
Plugging in the numbers, we get:
Ladder² = 5² + 3²
Ladder² = 25 + 9
Ladder² = 34
Now, square root both sides to find the length of the ladder:
Ladder = √34
And there you have it! The shortest ladder that will reach from the ground over the fence to the building is approximately √34 feet long.
Just remember, no matter the length of the ladder, always use caution when climbing and make sure the clowns are fully trained in ladder acrobatics! Safety first!