Question

On a sunny day, Dennis notices that his shadow is 48 inches long. If Dennis is 55 inches tall, the distance between the top of his head and the end of the shadow is __ inches.

Answer 1

the situation forms a right triangle:

Apply the Pythagorean theorem:

c^2 = a^2 + b^2

Where:

c = hypotenuse = x

a&b = the other 2 legs of the triangle

Replacing:

x^2 = 55^2+48^2

Solve for x

x^2 = 3,025+ 2,304

x^2 = 5,329

x=√5329

x= 73