Assume the ladder is NOT an extension ladder.
A 25 ft ladder is placed with its foot 7 ft away from a building. If the top of the ladder slips down 4 ft, how many feet will the bottom slide out?
Answer
8 ft
First triangle: 7 squared + 24 squared = 25 squared, so the top of the ladder was 24 feet high.
24 – 4= 20. 25 squared – 20 squared = 225. Take the square root of that and you get 15: the new base of the triangle. 15 – 7 (the old base) = 8ft.
