Even though it was now middle of winter, Jack hauled out his ladder and placed his ladder against the side of the house and began to climb. He had some bad luck when he reached the half-way point. The ground was a frozen sheet of ice and the base of his ladder slipped out and the top slid down the side of the house. Jack, clinging to the center rung, wound up moving from Point A on the side of his house to Point B on the ground.

Describe the path Jack traveled.

See i think that it depends how the ladder is placed against the wall. If the foot of the ladder is close to the wall Jack would take a different path than if the foot of the ladder was far away fom the wall.

But including what i just said , jack would just travel in a 1/4 to 1/2 of a circle depending on where he placed the ladder.

I also think you could show a right angled triangle with the ladder inclined against the wall. Now measure half of the base and draw a semi-circle from the mid point of the hypotenuse. The semi circle to be in the triangle please. Now draw a tangent to te semi circle which is perpendicular to the base of the triangle. From the point of the radius to the point of the tangent touching the base, draw an arc with the radius half the hypotnuse.

that should be the path that jack took.

Posted by Nithin on 2004-07-29 02:30:14