A 14-foot ladder is placed against a vertical wall of a building, with the bottom of the ladder standing on level ground 9 feet from the base of the building. How high up the wall does the ladder reach?

10.7 feet

Step-by-step explanation:

The ladder, the ground and the wall form the shape of a right angled triangle as shown in the image below.

The hypotenuse of the triangle is 14 feet (length of ladder)

The base of the triangle is 9 feet long (the distance from the base of the ladder to the wall)

We need to find the height of the triangle. We can apply Pythagoras rule:

where hyp = hypotenuse

a = base of the triangle

b = height of the triangle

Therefore:

The wall reaches 10.7 feet high.

simplifying

5(x + -6) = 2(x + 3)

reorder the terms:

5(-6 + x) = 2(x + 3)

(-6 * 5 + x * 5) = 2(x + 3)

(-30 + 5x) = 2(x + 3)

reorder the terms:

-30 + 5x = 2(3 + x)

-30 + 5x = (3 * 2 + x * 2)

-30 + 5x = (6 + 2x)

solving

-30 + 5x = 6 + 2x

solving for variable 'x'.

move all terms containing x to the left, all other terms to the right.

add '-2x' to each side of the equation.

-30 + 5x + -2x = 6 + 2x + -2x

combine like terms: 5x + -2x = 3x

-30 + 3x = 6 + 2x + -2x

combine like terms: 2x + -2x = 0

-30 + 3x = 6 + 0

-30 + 3x = 6

add '30' to each side of the equation.

-30 + 30 + 3x = 6 + 30

combine like terms: -30 + 30 = 0

0 + 3x = 6 + 30

3x = 6 + 30

combine like terms: 6 + 30 = 36

3x = 36

divide each side by '3'.

x = 12

simplifying

x = 12

this should .