I have no idea how to even attempt solving this problem

[fliiip]

You need to get on to a roof of a house by climbing up a ladder resting against the guttering of your house. The guttering is 3.5 metres off of the ground. When the ladder rests against the wall, for every 4 units of ladder, the foot of the ladder must be 1 unit away from the wall (4 m ladder = 1 m away, etc) To walk off the ladder, the ladder should extend 1m beyond the gutter to allow a safe exit on to the roof. What are the lengths here?

I have no idea what to do

 

[wjm11]

You need to get on to a roof of a house by climbing up a ladder resting against the guttering of your house. The guttering is 3.5 metres off of the ground. When the ladder rests against the wall, for every 4 units of ladder, the foot of the ladder must be 1 unit away from the wall (4 m ladder = 1 m away, etc) To walk off the ladder, the ladder should extend 1m beyond the gutter to allow a safe exit on to the roof. What are the lengths here?

I have no idea what to do

1) Always draw a picture of your problem. This one should form a triangle, comprised of the ladder, the wall of the house, and the ground.
2) Label your picture with dimensions. The wall is 3.5m, the ground is x, and the ladder is 4x.
3) You have a right triangle, so you can use the Pythagorean Theorem. Write an equation.
4) Solve.
5) Remember to add 1 m onto the length of the ladder that you just solved for.