SOLUTION: a 25ft ladder is placed 8ft from wall, how high is can the ladder reach?

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Question 274152: a 25ft ladder is placed 8ft from wall, how high is can the ladder reach?
Answer by fractalier(6550) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Make a right triangle with the 25 ft ladder being the hypotenuse, and 8 feet being the bottom leg.
We know that
a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Now we solve for b...
b^2 = c^2 - a^2
b^2 = 25^2 - 8^2
b^2 = 625 - 64
b^2 = 561
Taking the square root of both sides...
b is about 23.7 feet