Learn the basics before you drill.

Match straight ladders to bedded extensions.

Start with the simplest pattern: a bedded extension ladder lines up with a straight ladder by reach and rung count.

In the app, this is the foundation for deciding whether another ladder can make the same reach.

Group ladders by bedded height.

Some ladders start at the same bedded reach. That is why the first comparison to learn is not ladder length. It is bedded height and rung count.

• 14 ft / 12r group: 14' straight and 24' extension bedded.
• 16 ft / 14r group: 16' straight, 28' extension bedded, and 40' 3-section bedded.
• 20 ft / 17r group: 20' straight, 35' extension bedded, and 50' 3-section bedded.
• Oddball: 35' 3-section is its own pattern at 13r bedded.

Know the max rung extension.

The app teaches the practical limits for common extension ladders. A match only counts if that ladder can actually reach the target within its max raised rungs.

When there is no ladder that can match the reference, the right answer is No Match.

Match extension ladders back to straight ladders.

After the bedded groups make sense, practice reading an extension ladder and asking whether it equals a straight ladder reach.

• A 28' extension fully bedded is the 16' straight-ladder reach.
• A 35' extension fully bedded is the 20' straight-ladder reach.
• If the extension is raised, compare the total rung count against the straight ladder target.

This is where the drill starts to feel like recognition instead of calculation.

Match extension ladder to extension ladder.

This is the main Ladder Math skill: one extension ladder is the reference, and you have to find a different ladder that can reach the same target.

• Start with the reference reach.
• Choose another ladder from the picker.
• Raise rungs until the target line matches.
• Commit the answer, or choose No Match if the other ladders cannot make it.