Question

A building casts a shadow 25 m long. At the same time, the shadow cast by a 44-cm tall pole is 59 cm long. Find the height of the building.

 A. 17.1 m

 B. 32.0 m  C. 33.5 m  D.  18.6 m

Answer 1

For this, we are going to be using proportions to solve. But firstly, we have to convert cm to m. For this, I'll be using dimensional analysis:

`(44\ cm)/(1)*(0.01\ m)/(1\ cm)=(0.44)/(1)=0.44\ m`

`(59\ cm)/(1)*(0.01\ m)/(1\ cm)=(0.59)/(1)=0.59\ m`

Now that we have everything in meters, we can put it into proportions. In this case, our proportion is
`(x)/(25) =(0.44)/(0.59)`

Firstly, cross-multiply:
`0.59x=11`

Next, divide both sides by 0.59, and your answer will be x = 18.6 m, or D.