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For which of the following would similar triangles and trigonometry be useful for measuring?

The length of a table.
The width of a wide river.
The length of a car.
The width of the classroom.

User StoneHeart
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2 Answers

5 votes

Answer: Width of a wide river

Explanation:

User Taskmaster
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6.6k points
5 votes
To measure the length of a table, the length of a car, or the width of
the classroom, you can walk from one end to the other, and you can
stretch a string or a tape measure the whole distance.

But if you need to measure the width of a river, there's no way to walk
a straight line between the ends of the measurement, and it's almost
impossible to use a ruler or a tape measure. You have to find another,
more clever way to measure it.

A little bit of trigonometry makes the job easy. I'll have to admit, though,
I don't immediately see where similar triangles would have to be involved.
User Grzegorz Pawlik
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7.1k points