Solution
- To better understand the problem, we can make a sketch as follows:
- The above figure depicts what was described by the question.
- We are asked to find the distance between the base of the ladder and the base of the building, and we have labeled it as x.
- To find the value of x, we simply apply SOHCAHTOA.
- That is,
[tex]\begin{gathered} \tan\theta=\frac{Opposite}{Adjacent} \\ \\ \tan63\degree=\frac{37}{x} \\ \\ \text{ Rewrite,} \\ \\ x=\frac{37}{\tan63\degree} \\ \\ \therefore x=18.852441...\approx18.9\text{ \lparen TO THE NEAREST TENTH OF A FOOT\rparen} \end{gathered}[/tex]Final Answer
The distance of the base of the building from the base of the ladder is 18.9 feet.
