A pole 24 feet high has a shadow eight feet long. A nearby pole is 72 feet tall. How long is it's shadow?

1 Answer

length of shadow of pole will be 24\ \text{feet

Explanation:

The light rays coming from the sun are almost parallel.

Thus, we get two similar right triangles formed by the heights of poles h_1=24\ \text{feet & h_2=72\ \text{feet & respective lengths of shadows d_1=8 \text{feet & d_2 \text{feet

Ratio of corresponding sides of two similar triangles is same

d_2/d_1=h_2/h_1

d_2/8=72/24

d_2={72\cdot 8}/{24}

=24

hence the length of shadow of pole of height 72\ feet will be 24\ \text{feet