Question

A 6 foot person standing 20 feet from a street light Casts 5 foot shadow two similar triangles are formed when triangle is formed by the person into the shadows of the person cast think triangles formed by the street light in the ground from the base of the street like to the end of the street the street light how many times taller is the street light than the person

Answer 1

the street light is 5 times taller than the person

Explanation:

I have drawn the triangle that depicts the question and attached it.

We are given;

Length of shadow; L1 = 5ft

Height of person; b1 = 6 ft

Distance from street light is 20ft.

Thus, total length of triangle base = 20 + 5 ft = 25 ft

From the image attached, we can use similar triangle theorem to know the height of the street light which is b2.

Thus;

5/25 = 6/b2

b2 = (25 × 6)/5

b2 = 30 ft

Street light is 30 ft and the person is 6 ft.

Thus, ratio of street light to person is; 30/6 = 5

Thus, the street light is 5 times taller than the person