Thread: Minimization Story Problem

The wall of a building is to be braced by a beam that must pass over a parallel fence 5 feet high and 4 feet from the building. Find the length of the shortest beam that can be used.

So far, I have drawn a diagram and I can see that this involves similar triangles, but I don't know how to precede from here.

Originally Posted by seuzy13

The wall of a building is to be braced by a beam that must pass over a parallel fence 5 feet high and 4 feet from the building. Find the length of the shortest beam that can be used.

So far, I have drawn a diagram and I can see that this involves similar triangles, but I don't know how to precede from here.

http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~kouba/CalcOneDIRECTORY/maxmindirectory/MaxMin.html

scroll down to problem #18