A 10-foot ladder leans against a wall with its foot braced 3 feet from wall's base. How far up the wall does the ladder reach?

Pythagorean theorem

for a right triangle with legs legnth a and b and hytponuse c

a^2+b^2=c^2

the legnht of th eladder is the hypotnuse

the 3 feet is bottom leg

height is other leg

10=c

3=a

b=?

3^2+b^2=10^2

9+b^2=100

minus 9 both sides

b^2=91

sqrt both sides

b=√91

aprox

b=9.53939

answer is √91 feet or aprox 9.53939