While going for my daily run, I passed a squirrel carrying a nut in her mouth. When she saw me, she ran towards a safe place and, coming to a stone wall, easily jumped up on it and disappeared. I began to wonder how high I could jump if I were a squirrel.

Question

If an average squirrel's back leg height from ground to hip is 3 ½ inches, and that squirrel can jump a 2 foot high wall, what height wall could I jump if I were a giant squirrel? My leg height from ground to hip is 36 inches. Give your answer in inches.

Answer 1

Let's use a proportion.

3.5/2 = 36/x

3.5x = 72

x = 20.57 feet

20.57 * 12 = _______ inches

Answer 2

3 ½ = 3.5 = 7 / 2

2 foot = 2 ∙ 12 = 24 in

3.5 / 24 = 36 / x

Cross-multiply:

3.5 ∙ x = 24 ∙ 36

3.5 x = 864

Divide both sides by 3.5

x = 864 / 3.5 =

864 / ( 7 / 2 ) =

864 ∙ 2 / 7 =

1728 / 7 =

( 1722 + 6 ) / 7 =

1722 / 7 + 6 / 7 =

246 + 6 / 7 = 246 6/7 in