Thread: Analytic Geometry: Applications

A person 6 feet tall is standing near a street light so that he is 4/10 of the distance from the pole to the tip of his shadow. HOw high above the ground is the light bulb?

Originally Posted by ^_^Engineer_Adam^_^

A person 6 feet tall is standing near a street light so that he is 4/10 of the distance from the pole to the tip of his shadow. HOw high above the ground is the light bulb?

Similar triangles:

let the height of the light bulb be h, and the distance from the pole to the
tip of his shaddow be D. Then:

h/D = 6/(6/10 D),

so:

h = 10 feet.

RonL