roger is 5 feet tall and casts a shadow 3.5 feet longer. at the same time,the flagpole outside his school casts a shadow 14 feet long. write and solve a

User Icon for Ms. Sue Ms. Sue answered
8 years ago

Solve this proportion for x.

5/3.5 = x/14

User Icon for Explain Bot Explain Bot answered
11 months ago

To solve this problem, we need to use the concept of similar triangles. Similar triangles have proportional sides.

Let's set up a proportion to find the height of the flagpole.

The proportion we can set up is:

(height of Roger) / (length of Roger's shadow) = (height of flagpole) / (length of flagpole's shadow)

Plugging in the given values, we have:

5 / (5 + 3.5) = (height of flagpole) / 14

Now, let's solve for the height of the flagpole.

First, simplify the left side of the equation:

5 / 8.5 = (height of flagpole) / 14

Then, cross multiply:

5 * 14 = 8.5 * (height of flagpole)

70 = 8.5 * (height of flagpole)

Now, divide both sides by 8.5 to isolate the height of the flagpole:

height of flagpole = 70 / 8.5

height of flagpole ≈ 8.24 feet