Maleek rested a 15.5-foot ladder against a building. the base of the ladder is 8.2 feet from the building. how far up the building does the ladder reach? which diagram models the problem? mc001-1.jpg mc001-2.jpg mc001-3.jpg

The ladder creates a right triangle with the building and the ground. The horizontal leg is 8.2 ft, the hypotenuse is 15.5 ft, and we need to find the vertical leg.
To do this, we use the Pythagorean Theorem:

First, we solve for c without adding numbers:

We square both sides, then subtract b^2 from both sides. Then we square root both sides to find c.
Now we plug in the numbers:

We plug in for a and b, then simplify. C, the distance from the ground to where the ladder rests against the wall, is about 13.2 ft.