Question

A ladder 25 m long just reaches the top of a building 24 m high from the ground. What is the distance of the foot of the ladder from the building?

Options

• 7 m

• 14 m

• 21 m

• 24.5 m

Answer 1

7 m

Explanation:

The ladder, building height and ground form a right triangle with hypotenuse 25 m and vertical side 24 m.

By Pythagoras the horizontal distance = `sqrt(25^2 - 24^2)`

= `sqrt(625 - 576)`

 = `sqrt(49)`

= 7 m