SOLUTION: A 40 foot ladder is leaning against a building .The foot of the ladders is 32 feet from the building. Find the angle that the ladder makes with the building.

Algebra ->  Customizable Word Problem Solvers  -> Geometry -> SOLUTION: A 40 foot ladder is leaning against a building .The foot of the ladders is 32 feet from the building. Find the angle that the ladder makes with the building.       Log On

Ad: Over 600 Algebra Word Problems at edhelper.com


   



Question 1159746: A 40 foot ladder is leaning against a building .The foot of the ladders is 32 feet from the building. Find the angle that the ladder makes with the building.

Found 2 solutions by ikleyn, Amily_2190:
Answer by ikleyn(52788) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.

sin(a) = 32%2F40 = 4%2F5 = 0.8,


where  " a "  is the angle that the ladder makes with the building.


a = arcsin(0.8).


Use your calculator.


Answer by Amily_2190(27) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Picture/draw a right triangle:
The hypotenuse is 40 ft and the vertical leg of the triangle is 32 ft.
Now you can find the angle the ladder makes with the building using basic trigonometry(SOHCAHTOA). Since we know the opposite side(O) and Hypotenuse(H), we will use sine.

Create an equation.........sin+%28x%29=%2832%2F40%29
Calculate the inverse sine to find x......sin%5E-1%2832%2F40%29=x
x is approximately 53.13 degrees.