Question

question
a 40 foot ladder is set against the side of a house so that it reaches up 24 feet. if aiden grabs the ladder at its base and pulls it 5 feet farther from the house, how far up the side of the house will the ladder reach now? (the answer is not 19 ft.) round to the nearest tenth of a foot.
answer attempt 1 out of 2
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Explanation:

Step1: Find original base distance

Use Pythagoras: $b = \sqrt{40^2 - 24^2} = \sqrt{1600 - 576} = \sqrt{1024} = 32$ ft

Step2: Calculate new base distance

New base = $32 + 5 = 37$ ft

Step3: Find new height

New height $h = \sqrt{40^2 - 37^2} = \sqrt{1600 - 1369} = \sqrt{231} \approx 15.2$ ft

Answer:

15.2 ft