Two window washers, Philip and Kiera, lean a ladder against the side of a building so that Philip can wash a window while Kiera holds the ladder. The top of the ladder reaches the window, which is 16 feet off the ground. The base of the ladder is 12 feet away from the building. How long is the ladder?

Best answer that i found on yahoo ok   set :   x= length of 2nd piece in cm  x- 3= length of 1st piece in cm  x-4= length of 3rd piece in cm  then since you know they all came from the 20 cm ribbon you add them together and set them equal to 20x+ x-3 +x-4 = 20  3x - 7= 20  3x= 27  x= 9  the shortest piece is the third piece which is x- 4  x-4  9-4 = 5  the length of the smallest piece is 5 cm.  the other lengths are  9 cm  6 cm