Question

question
a tree casts a 38 foot shadow at the same time a boy casts a 9 foot shadow. if the boy is 5.5 feet tall, how tall is the tree?
round to the nearest tenth of a foot.
provide your answer below:
feet
feedback more instruction

Explanation:

Step1: Set up the proportion

Since the height and shadow length are proportional, we have $\frac{\text{height of tree}}{\text{shadow of tree}}=\frac{\text{height of boy}}{\text{shadow of boy}}$. Let $h$ be the height of the tree. So $\frac{h}{38}=\frac{5.5}{9}$.

Step2: Solve for $h$

Cross - multiply: $9h = 5.5\times38$. Then $9h=209$. Divide both sides by 9: $h=\frac{209}{9}\approx23.2$.

Answer:

$23.2$