Question

Mr. Grimm is trying to build a playground set in his backyard. Part of the playground set will have a slide. The ladder is 5 feet tall, and the slide is 7 feet long. What is the distance between the ladder and the bottom of the slide?

Answer 1

Answer:

~5 feet.

Step-by-step explanation:

assuming that it is a right triangle. if a=5 and c=7 then b the other leg is equal to the square root of c squared minus a squared. which equals about 4.9

Answer 2

use the Pythagorean theorum

${a}^{2} + {b}^{2} = {c}^{2}$

where a and b are sides of the triangle and c is the hypotenuse.

from my image we can see:

$c = 7 \\ b = 5$
so plugging these numbers into the Pythagorean theorum gives

${a}^{2} + {b}^{2} = {c}^{2} \\ {a}^{2} + {5}^{2} = {7}^{2} \\ {a}^{2} + 25 = 49 \\ {a}^{2} = 49 - 25 \\ {a}^{2} = 24 \\ a= \sqrt{24} \\ a \: = 4.90$

so the length from the ladder to the end of the slide is 4.90 feet.