Question

Two trees standing side by side in the sunlight one is 50 feet tall and the other is 20 feet tall if the taller tree casts a 18-foot shadow, what is the length in feet of the shadow of the shorter tree

Answer 1

Given:

Length of taller tree = 50 feet

Length of shorter tree = 20 feet

Length of shadow of taller tree = 18 feet

To find:

The length of shadow of shorter tree.

Solution:

Since, two trees standing side by side in the sunlight, therefore the length of trees are proportional to their shadows.

Let the length of shadow of shorter tree be x feet.

Using the given information, we get

$\dfrac{50}{18}=\dfrac{20}{x}$

By cross multiplication, we get

$50\times x=20\times 18$

$50x=360$

$x=\dfrac{360}{50}$

$x=7.2$

Therefore, the length of shadow of shorter tree is 7.2 feet.