SOLUTION: A spotlight is mounted on the eaves of a house 20 feet above the ground. A flower bed runs between the house and the sidewalk, so the closest the ladder can be placed to the house

Question 850113: A spotlight is mounted on the eaves of a house 20 feet above the ground. A flower bed runs between the house and the sidewalk, so the closest the ladder can be placed to the house is 15 feet. How long of a ladder is needed so that an electrician can reach the place where the light is mounted?
The length of the ladder needs to be ____ ft
Thank you!
Answer by KMST(5328) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The ladder, the ground, and the wall of the house form a right triangle.
One leg is the 20-foot wall height from the ground to the spotlight location.
The other leg is the distance from the foot of the ladder to the house.
If the lengths of those legs, in feet, are 20 and 15, the length, in feet, of the hypotenuse is
.
That is based on the Pythagorean theorem, that says that
.
So the ladder must be at least long.
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