Question

Sam Houston's Arms

Along Interstate 45 near Huntsville, Texas, there is a giant statue of Sam Houston.
The statue stands 67 feet tall.
An average adult male is 5-feet, 9-inches tall and has an arm length of 27 inches
(measuring from the shoulder to the tip of the fingers).
If the Sam Houston statue is proportional to an average adult male, about how long is the statues
arm?
Did you know
Sam Houston
was actually​

Answer 1

The length of the statue's arm is 26.22 ft.

Explanation:

Let the length of the statue's arm be 'x'.

Given:

Height of statue is,
`H=67\ ft`

Height of male is,
`h=5\ ft\ 9\ in=5\ ft+(9)/(12)\ ft=5+0.75=5.75\ ft`

Length of the male's arm is,
`l=27\ in=(27)/(12)=2.25\ ft`

Now, as the size of Sam Houston's statue is proportional to that of an adult male, therefore, their heights and arm lengths will also be in proportion. So,

`(H)/(h)=(x)/(l)\\x=(H)/(h)* l`

Now, plug in the given values and solve for 'x'.

`x=(67)/(5.75)* 2.25\\x=26.22\ ft`

Therefore, the length of the statue's arm is 26.22 ft