Right-triangle trig — find a missing side
Use SOH-CAH-TOA to find a missing side of a right triangle given one angle and one side, in a real context. Unlimited questions, five difficulty levels, and a full worked solution every time — free.
Try one
A ladder leans against a wall, making a 40deg angle with the ground. The height it reaches up the wall is 9 m. Find the distance from the wall to the base of the ladder, to one decimal place.
tan(angle) = opposite / adjacent
Answer: 10.7
See one solved, step by step
A ladder leans against a wall, making a 40deg angle with the ground. The height it reaches up the wall is 18 m. Find the distance from the wall to the base of the ladder, to one decimal place.
tan(angle) = opposite / adjacent
📘 Worked solution
1tan(40deg) = 18/xTOA: tangent is opposite over adjacent.
2x = 18 / tan(40deg) = 18 / 0.8391 = 21.4516Rearrange to isolate x: multiply both sides by x, then divide by tan(40deg).
3The distance from the wall to the base of the ladder is about 21.5 m.Round to one decimal place.
Ready to master it?
Jump into unlimited practice — your Winny Score tracks you to 100. And if it won't click, a real tutor will make it click: first lesson free.
Start practicing