Sally's cat is stuck in a tree 18 ft off the ground. the base of a ladder is placed 6 feet away from the base of the tree. what is the minimum length ladder needed to reach the cat (rounded to the nearest foot)?

19 ft

Step-by-step explanation:

Hi, we have to apply the Pythagorean Theorem, since the tree and the ladder form a right triangle. (see attachment)

Hypotenuse squared = side squared + side squared.

Hypotenuse of a right triangle is the longest side.

Replacing with the values given:

x^2 = 18^2 + 6 ^2

Where x is the length of the ladder.( because is the longest side)

Solving for x:

√(18^2 + 6 ^2)= x

19 ft

a - base

b - exponent

so,