Solve the following problem using the properties of similar triangles. A 40-foot flagpole outside an office building casts a 25-foot shadow. What is the height of the office building if the shadow it casts is 200 feet long?(1 point) Responses 125 feet 125 feet 320 feet 320 feet 400 feet 400 feet 5 feet

1 answer

To solve this problem using the properties of similar triangles, we can set up a proportion based on the height of the flagpole and its shadow compared to the height of the office building and its shadow.

Let:

  • \( h \) be the height of the office building.
  • The height of the flagpole is 40 feet.
  • The shadow of the flagpole is 25 feet.
  • The shadow of the office building is 200 feet.

We can set up the proportion as follows:

\[ \frac{\text{height of flagpole}}{\text{shadow of flagpole}} = \frac{\text{height of building}}{\text{shadow of building}} \]

Substituting the values we have:

\[ \frac{40}{25} = \frac{h}{200} \]

Now, we can cross-multiply to find \( h \):

\[ 40 \times 200 = 25 \times h \]

Calculating the left side:

\[ 8000 = 25h \]

Now, divide both sides by 25 to solve for \( h \):

\[ h = \frac{8000}{25} = 320 \]

Thus, the height of the office building is 320 feet.