Answer:
5 feet
Step-by-step explanation:
When you place a 13-food ladder against the top of a 12-foot building, the ladder becomes the hypotenuse of the right angle triangle formed.
Let x be the distance of the bottom of the ladder away from the bottom of the building.
Using the Pythagoras Theorem we obtain:
[tex] {x}^{2} + {12}^{2} = {13}^{2} [/tex]
This implies that:
[tex] {x}^{2} + 144 = 169[/tex]
[tex] {x}^{2} = 169 - 144[/tex]
[tex] {x}^{2} = 25[/tex]
[tex]x = \sqrt{25} [/tex]
[tex]x = 5[/tex]
The bottom of the ladder will be 5 feet away from the bottom of the ladder
