20.40 [tex] ft^{2} [/tex]
When this situation is drawn out, it forms a right triangle (as shown in the attached image). The sides that are given are the two legs of the triangle. The side that is missing is the hypotenuse. The missing side can be found using the pythagorean theorem: [tex] a^{2} + b^{2} = c^{2} [/tex]
A = 20
B= 4
C = ?
This process is shown in the attached image. The length of the missing side (ladder) rounded to the nearest hundredth is 20.40[tex] ft^{2} [/tex]
