a 20 ft ladder is leaning against a wall. The bottom is being pulled out at a constant rate of 2.5 ft/sec. Will the top of the ladder clide sown thr wall at a constant rate? What will the rate be? In relation to time?
It is not constant.
Use pythagorus: x^2 + y^2 = l^2, where l is the length of the ladder, and x is the x (horizontal) component, and y is vertical component. Then take the derivatives with respect to time, and solve for dy/dx.
I hope this is enough of a start for you...
Let x by horizontal, y be vertical.
20^2=x^2 + y^2
O=2x dx/dt + 2y dy/dy
You know dx/dt, which is a constant. Solve for dy/dt? is x, y constant (NO).