Question

A flagpole casts a shadow 22 feet long. If a man 6 feet tall cast a shadow 4.3 feet long at the same time, how tall is the flagpole? Please explain your answer.

Answer 1

30.70 ft

Explanation:

For shadow problems, we make the assumption that an object's height and its shadow length are proportional.

Setup

The proportion for the two objects is ...

height/shadow = pole/(22 ft) = (6 ft)/(4.3 ft)

Solution

Multiplying by 22 ft, we find the pole height to be ...

pole = (22 ft)(6 ft)/4.3) ≈ 30.70 ft

The flagpole is about 30.70 feet tall.