Lesson 6 Homework Practice Use The Pythagorean Theorem ★
Sarah smiled, looking out the window toward the sea. The lighthouse’s new ladder would lean exactly 50 feet—no more, no less. And forty years of silence would end with the sound of safe, steady footsteps climbing up into the light. If the contractor only had a 45-foot ladder, how much closer to the lighthouse would the base have to be to still reach the lantern room? (Answer: 20.6 ft away, using 45² – 40² = b² → b ≈ 20.6 ft)
That night, Nonna called a contractor. "Fifty feet," she told him firmly. "My granddaughter did the math." Lesson 6 Homework Practice Use The Pythagorean Theorem
Her pencil moved to the margin of the homework sheet. Lesson 6: The Pythagorean Theorem. a² + b² = c². Sarah smiled, looking out the window toward the sea
"Fifty feet," she whispered. "The ladder needs to be fifty feet long." If the contractor only had a 45-foot ladder,
