Question

A 6 foot man measured his shadow at13 feet 9 inches. Then he measured the

shadow of a flagpole at 125 feet. How tall is the flagpole?(Round to the

nearest tenth)

Answer 1

The flagpole is 54.5 inches tall.

Explanation:

We solve this question using proportions, by rule of three.

Each feet has 12 inches. So

A 6 foot man measured his shadow at13 feet 9 inches.

So when the real height is of 6 feet, the shadow is of 13 feet + (9/12) feet = 13.75 feet.

When the shadow is of 125 feet, the height is x. So

6 feet - 13.75 feet

x feet - 125 feet

Applying cross multiplication

`13.75x = 6*125`

`x = (6*125)/(13.75)`

`x = 54.5`

The flagpole is 54.5 inches tall.