A 19

​-foot
ladder is placed against a vertical wall of a​ building, with the bottom of the ladder standing on level ground 12

feet from the base of the building. How high up the wall does the ladder​ reach?

1 answer

We can use the Pythagorean Theorem to solve this problem. Let's label the height up the wall that the ladder reaches as "h". Then, we have:

h^2 + 12^2 = 19^2

Simplifying this equation, we get:

h^2 + 144 = 361

Subtracting 144 from both sides, we get:

h^2 = 217

Taking the square root of both sides, we get:

h = sqrt(217)

This is approximately equal to 14.73 feet. Therefore, the ladder reaches approximately 14.73 feet up the wall.