A 20-foot ladder leaning against a building makes an angle of 60° with the ground. How far from the base of the building is the foot of the ladder?

1 Answer
Jul 23, 2017

The foot of the ladder is 10 feet away from the base of the wall.

Explanation:

Here , the wall , top and foot of the ladder and ground makes a

right triangle of which length of ladder h=20 is regarded as

hypotenuse, angle with ground is theta = 60^0 ; cos theta =b/h or

cos 60 = b/20 or b = 20 * cos 60 = 20 * 1/2 = 10 feet.

The foot of the ladder is 10 feet away from the base of the wall. [Ans]