Another math question, please help?

Question

the top of a 15-foot ladder is 3ft farther up a wall than the foot of the ladder is from the bottom of the wall. how far is the foot of the ladder from the bottom of the wall?

please include some solution, thanks!

Answer 1

it's a right triangle.

The hypotenuse is 15

The other sides are x and x+3

So using Pythagorean Thm,

x^2 + (x+3)^2 = 15^2

x^2 + X^2 +6x +9 = 225

2x^2 +6x -216 = 0

x^2 + 3x - 108 = 0

(x+12)(x-9)=0

x=-12 (reject neg. value) or x=9

9 feet ANSWER

Answer 2

the top of a 15-foot ladder is 3ft farther up a wall than the foot of the ladder is from the bottom of the wall. how far is the foot of the ladder from the bottom of the wall?

karu-cha...hereit is.:

Ladder Length = 15 ft

Height of wall = 15 - 3 = 12 ft

Distance of Ladder away from the wall = D

Riught triangle

(Ladder Length)² = (Height of the wall)² + (Distance of the ladder away from the wall)²

(15)² = (12)² +  (D)²

(D)² = (15)² - (12)²

(D)² = 225 - 144

(D)²  = 81

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Ans::D = 9 ft

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hope this helps