The ladder forms a right triangle with the wall and the ground. The ladder is the hypotenuse, the distance up the wall is the opposite side, and the distance from the wall to the foot of the ladder is the adjacent side. Using the Pythagorean theorem (a^2 + b^2 = c^2), we can solve for the length of the ladder. In this case, a = 2, b = unknown, and c = 4. Plugging these values into the equation, 2^2 + b^2 = 4^2, we get 4 + b^2 = 16. Solving for b, we get b^2 = 12, which means b = √12. Simplifying, we get b ≈ 3.46, which is approximately equal to 3.5. Therefore, the ladder reaches approximately 3.5 meters up the wall.