The figure below shows a flashlight beam shining on the heads of three people such that it hits exactly at the top of each head. The angle of elevation from the ground to the top of each of the three heads is 45^deg. Person A is 4 feet tall, Person B is 5.5 feet tall, and Person C is 6.5 feet tall. How far away from the flashlight is each person?

Question

darthvader2900 · Answer

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anonymous · Answer

@Wbpeper hi welcome to openstudy, can you also post the figure mentioned in your question?

anonymous · Answer

Rip, sorry, knew I forgot something...

tkhunny · Answer

You should recognize a 45-45-90 right triangle - aka Isosceles Right Triangle.

The name solves the problem.

anonymous · Answer

Ooooooooooh! So you multiply each height by the square root of... 3 right? Multiply each height by the square root of 3 (which is around 1.7), and I should have my answer correct? So the answer would be D

anonymous · Answer

Unless... the answer is actually A isn't it? Just figured it out...

tkhunny · Answer

No, it's not a 30-60-90 Right Triangle, it's a 45-45-90.  Multiply by 1.  They are as far away as they are tall.

anonymous · Answer

Yeah I just realized that... rip me... though thanks for the help :)

tkhunny · Answer

Good call.  Our postings crossed in the mail.  Put this one under "I figured it out, myself!"