Question

a 8 ft tall telephone booth standing next to a statue casts a 2 ft shadow. If the statue is 12 ft tall, then how long is it's shadow?

Answer 1

Given:

Required:

length of the shadow of the statue, x = ?

Solution:

Notice that we form two triangles

Since there is not much information about the relative position of the sun ( which cast the shadow on these two objects) or the angles of depression/elevation, we will have to assume that the two are similar triangles ( due to the absence of data).

If these triangles are similar triangles, then their corresponding sides are proportional. We can write the proportion as follow:

`(x)/(12)=(2)/(8)`

Solving for x,

`x=12\cdot(2)/(8)=(24)/(8)=3`

Answer. The length of the statue's shadow is 3 ft.