document.write( "Question 773649: A ladder is leaning against a wall. the base of the ladders 4 feet away from the wall and the top touches the wall at 8 feet from the floor. Derive an expression for a line that that somehow represents the distance from the floor to someone's foot standing on the ladder (i.e. the same as the height of a particular part of the ladder) as a function of his/her distance from the wall. \n" ); document.write( "

Algebra.Com's Answer #471723 by josgarithmetic(39618) $\"\"$ $\"About$

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Represent the contact points of the ladder on a cartesian coordinate system. Use positive x and y axes. Let y be the vertical position on the ladder and x represent the horizontal position on the ladder. Your given information translates into (4,0) and (0,8). The ladder is sloped at $\"m=-1%2F2\"$ and the y-intercept, where the top of the ladder contacts the wall, is b=8. The slope-intercept form for the equation is effectively the function for position upward on the ladder. $\"highlight%28y=-%281%2F2%29x%2B8%29\"$ \n" ); document.write( "

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