Question

to wash a window that is 7 meters off the ground, pablo leans a 9.1 - meter ladder against the side of the building. to reach the window, how far away from the building should pablo place the base of the ladder? if necessary, round to the nearest tenth. meters

Explanation:

Step1: Apply Pythagorean theorem

Let the height of the window from the ground be $a = 7$ meters, the length of the ladder be $c=9.1$ meters, and the distance from the base of the ladder to the building be $b$. According to the Pythagorean theorem $a^{2}+b^{2}=c^{2}$, so $b^{2}=c^{2}-a^{2}$.

Step2: Substitute values

Substitute $a = 7$ and $c = 9.1$ into the formula: $b^{2}=9.1^{2}-7^{2}=82.81 - 49=33.81$.

Step3: Solve for $b$

$b=\sqrt{33.81}\approx5.8$ meters.

Answer:

$5.8$