One end of a ladder 32 feet long is placed 10 feet from the outer wall of a building that stands on the ground level. how far up the building to the nearest foot will the ladder reach?

30 ft

Step-by-step explanation:

This is a classic right triangle problem, where the length of the ladder represents the hypotenuse, where the ladder is lengthwise from the building is the base of the triangle, and what we are looking for is the height of the triangle.  Pythagorean's Theorem will help us find this length.

so

1024 - 100 = y^2 and

y = 30.4 so 30 feet

Correct  cos(α - β) = 140/221

Step-by-step explanation:

cosα = ±√(1 - sin²α) => cosα = ±√(1 - (-5/13)²) = ±√(1 - (25/169)  

cosα = ±√(169 -25)/169 = ± √144/169

cosα = ± 12/13  since it is given that α (alpha) ends in the third quadrant

we choose  cosα = - 12/13

we know that is  tanβ = sinβ/cosβ = - 8/15 or sinβ : cosβ = 8 : 15 =>

sinβ = 8k and cosβ = 15k  where k is the coefficient of proportionality

we know the basic trigonometric equality

sin²β + cos²β = 1    when we replace the coefficients we get

(8k)² + (15k)² = 1 => 64k² + 225k² = 1 => 289k² = 1 => k² = 1/289 =>

k = 1/17   now we get sinβ and cosβ

since it is given that  β (beta) ends in the second quadrant

sinβ = 8/17 and cosβ = - 15/17

As we know it is:

cos(α - β) = cosα cosβ + sinα sinβ = - 12/13 · (- 15/17) + (- 5/13) · 8/17 =>

cos(α - β) = 180/221 - 40/221 = 140/221

cos(α - β) = 140/221

God is with you!!!