SOLUTION: A tree casts a shadow 10 ft long. A boy standing next to the tree casts a shadow 2.5 ft long. The triangle shown for the tree and its shadow is similar to the triangle shown for th

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Question 759001: A tree casts a shadow 10 ft long. A boy standing next to the tree casts a shadow 2.5 ft long. The triangle shown for the tree and its shadow is similar to the triangle shown for the boy and his shadow. If the boy is 5 ft tall, how tall is the tree?
Answer by malglu(63) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
with similar triangles the ratios of the corresponding sided will be equal. thus if the boys shadow is 2.5ft an dthe trees shadow is 10ft then the ratio is
2.5/10 which is 1/4
we know the boy is 5ft, so the tree will need to be 4 times as large, and thus is 20ft.