Question

You are 5 feet tall. A nearby flagpole is 20 feet tall with a shadow of 36 feet. Your shadow is _ feet in length. Round your answer to the nearest tenth if necessary. (HINT: Draw a picture to help to solve)

Answer 1

9 ft

1) Let's sketch that so we can better grasp it

2) Since both flagpole and you are standing on the same ground, then we can assume this is 90º and that both shadows and heights, make up similar triangles.

So applying Thales Theorem, we can write the following:

`\begin{gathered} (5)/(20)=(x)/(36) \\ 20x=5\cdot36 \\ 20x\text{ =180} \\ x=(180)/(20) \\ x=9 \end{gathered}`

3) Hence, your shadow is 9 ft in length.