Question

if you have a 3 foot tree and it casts a 3.75 foot shadow and a pole cast a shadow that is 8.5 feet how tall is that pole?

Answer 1

We can solve this using proportions since we are assuming that it is the same date, time, and place, so the shadows must be corresponding to the height of the object casting it.

Start by putting the object casting the shadow as x in x/y.

• The tree and shadow will be: 3 ft tree/3.75 ft shadow
• The pole and shadow will be: x (ft pole)/8.5 ft shadow

Make a proportion: 3/3.75 = x/8.5

Cross multiply.

25.5 = 3.75x

Divide both sides by 3.75.

x = 6.8

Since x is the variable standing for the pole in feet, the pole is 6.8 feet tall.