Imagine that the ladder is a hypotenuse of a right triangle (since ground and the building form a right angle). The sum of angles in a triangle is 180°. If we have: 90° + 45° + x° = 180° 135° + x = 180° x = 45°
Since two angles are the same this is isosceles triangle a = b.
Use the Pythagorean theorem: a² + b² = c² a = b a² + a² = c² 2a² = c²
c = 14 ft 2a² = 14² 2a² = 196 a² = 196/2 = 98 a = √98 ≈ 9.9 ft
