Question

At a certain time of day, a tree has a shadow 50 feet long. At the same time, a 6-foot-tall man stands next to the tree, and his shadow is 20 feet long. What is the height of the tree, in feet?

Answer 1

The key to this: similar triangles.

Answer 2

x=15?

Answer 3

The tree height is to the tree shadow as the man height is to the man shadow.

\(\dfrac{x}{50} = \dfrac{6}{20} \)

20x = 300

x = 15

The height of the tree is 15 ft.

You are correct.