A ladder 14 ft long rests against a vertical wall. Let heta be the angle between the top of the ladder and the wall and let x be the distance from the bottom of the ladder to the wall. If the bottom of the ladder slides away from the wall, how fast does x change with respect to heta when heta = \pi / 3?

Question

A ladder 14 ft long rests against a vertical wall. Let 	heta be the angle between the top of the ladder and the wall and let x be the distance from the bottom of the ladder to the wall. If the bottom of the ladder slides away from the wall, how fast does x change with respect to 	heta when 	heta = \pi / 3?

Reiny · Accepted Answer

sinØ = x/14 cosØ = (1/4)dx/dØ dx/dØ = 4cosØ so when Ø = π/3 dx/dØ = 4cosπ/3 = 2

Reiny · Answer

somehow my 14 changed to 4, (need new specks) so all the 4's are 14's and last line is dx/dØ = 14cos π/3 = 7

Reiny · Answer

just realized that drwls had already answered the question correctly, http://www.jiskha.com/display.cgi?id=1272944003