Apainter has a 24-foot ladder that he is using to paint a house. for safety reasons, the ladder must be placed at least 8 feet from the base of the side of the house. to the nearest tenth of a foot , how high can the ladder safety reach?

The Pythagorean Theorem states that: "the sum of the squares of the legs is equal to the square of the hypotenuse." 
a² + b² = c² or  c² = a² + b²

Note¹: Hypotenuse is the side opposite the right angle.
Note²: The legs are the sides that are not opposite the right angle.
Note³: The sloping ladder leaning against the side of the house forms a right angle.

Solving

Data:
c = 24 ft
a = 8 ft
b = ?

Solving:








The ladder for safety will be at a height of approximately 22.6 feet

The answer would be 24mm

The question is kind of confusing. if it's asking how many variations of answers can you give. then do 4^5 for your answer.this would be something like the first question could be a and the 2nd c or first b next c etc. if you can, ask the teacher for a better confirmation of what it's asking. if i'm assuming correctly what it's asking, it's 625 different variations.