A ladder is propped against a wall. If the top of the ladder reaches 18 feet up the wall and the base of the ladder is 6 feet from the base of the wall, how long is the ladder?

2 answers

If you sketch this out, the ladder, up against the wall, forms right triangle.

Using the Pythagorean theorem, you need to find c, the hypotenuse.

c^2 = 6^2 + 18^2

Solve for c, the length of the ladder.
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