Question

george, who is 6.25 - feet tall, needs to know the height of a tree that he is going to cut down. he notices that he casts a 10 - foot shadow when the tree casts a 28 - foot shadow. the height of the tree is _________ feet tall. enter only the number. the solution is

Explanation:

Step1: Set up the proportion

Since the height and shadow length are proportional, we have $\frac{\text{George's height}}{\text{George's shadow length}}=\frac{\text{Tree's height}}{\text{Tree's shadow length}}$. Let $h$ be the height of the tree. So, $\frac{6.25}{10}=\frac{h}{28}$.

Step2: Solve for $h$

Cross - multiply: $10h = 6.25\times28$. Then $h=\frac{6.25\times28}{10}$. Calculate $6.25\times28=(6 + 0.25)\times28=6\times28+0.25\times28=168 + 7=175$. So, $h=\frac{175}{10}=17.5$.

Answer:

17.5