Final answer:
To find the height of the adult giraffe, we use the similar triangles principle; the giraffe's height is found to be 18 ft when solved using the car's height and shadow lengths as a proportion.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question asks us to find the height of an adult giraffe given that a car 6 ft tall casts a 5 ft long shadow. This problem can be solved using similar triangles, as the shadows cast by two objects are proportional to the heights of the objects when the light source angle is the same for both.
We can set up a proportion where 6 ft (height of the car) / 5 ft (length of car's shadow) = x (height of the giraffe) / 15 ft (length of giraffe's shadow). Solving for x gives us x = (6 ft × 15 ft) / 5 ft, which simplifies to x = 18 ft. Thus, the height of the adult giraffe is 18 ft.