Ladder up a wall {ACT}

A right triangle is created by the ladder and the wall.

The Pythagorean Theorem can be used to find the missing length.

a² + b² = c²   {the Pythagorean Theorem}
a and b are the legs and c is the hypotenuse

a² + 8² = 10²   {substituted given values into the Pythagorean Theorem}
a² + 64 = 100   {evaluated exponents}
a² = 36   {subtracted 64 from each side}
a = 6   {took the square root of each side}

the ladder is 6 ft from the base of the wall

H.)  6


- Algebra House