SOLUTION: A 13-ft ladder is leaning against a house. The distance from the bottom of the ladder to the house is 7 ft less than the distance from the top of the ladder to the ground. How fa
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Question 3780: A 13-ft ladder is leaning against a house. The distance from the bottom of the ladder to the house is 7 ft less than the distance from the top of the ladder to the ground. How far is the bottom of the ladder from the house?
Answer by longjonsilver(2297) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
ladder against a house...forms a right-angled triangle. So this means Pythagoras' Theorem.
Let the height of the ladder against the wall = x
so the base of the ladder is x-7.
Pythagoras states (for this triangle)
or
(x+5)(x-12) = 0
so, either x+5=0 or x-12 = 0
so x=-5 or x=12.
Therefore height of ladder = 12feet and base of ladder is 12-7 = 5feet away.
jon
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