John is painting the side of a building that is 30ft tall.

Question

The ladder is at a 68 degree angle with the ground. while standing on the ladder the highest point John can reach is 4 ft above where the ladder touches the wall. What is the shortest ladder John can use to reach the top of the building?

I think I am suppose to use the pythagorean theorem. But he degrees is throwing me off.

Answer 1

Pythagorus won't help here.

Your ladder must reach up 26 ft. That means that the ladder's length x is given by

26/x = sin 68°