SOLUTION: A building is 3 ft from an 11​-ft fence that surrounds the property. A worker wants to wash a window in the building 16 ft from the ground. He plans to place a ladder over th

Algebra ->  Quadratic Equations and Parabolas -> SOLUTION: A building is 3 ft from an 11​-ft fence that surrounds the property. A worker wants to wash a window in the building 16 ft from the ground. He plans to place a ladder over th      Log On


   

Question 1027385: A building is 3 ft from an 11​-ft fence that surrounds the property. A worker wants to wash a window in the building 16 ft from the ground. He plans to place a ladder over the fence so it rests against the building.​ (5ft) He decides he should place the ladder 11 ft from the fence for stability. To the nearest tenth of a​ foot, how long a ladder will he​ need?
Answer by KMST(5328) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
This would work:
There are three isosceles right triangles
The largest of those isosceles right triangles has legs measuring 3ft%2B11ft=14ft . Its hypotenuse is the length of the ladder
sqrt%28%2814ft%29%5E2%2B%2814ft%29%5E2%29=sqrt%282%29%2A14ft=%22about+19.8+ft%22 (rounded to the nearest tenth of a foot).

A slightly longer ladder would do too:
The length of that ladder is (rounded to the nearest tenth of a foot).

The question is what your teacher's idea of the right answer is.