On level ground, the base of a tree is 20 ft from the bottom of a 48-ft flagpole. The tree is shorter than the flagpole. At a certain time, their shadows end at the same point 60 ft from the base of the flagpole. How tall is the tree?

1 Answer
Jul 13, 2018

The tree is #32# ft tall

Explanation:

Given: A tree is #20# ft from a #48# ft flag pole. The tree is shorter than the flag pole. At a certain time their shadows coincide at a point #60# ft from the base of the flag pole.

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Since we have two triangles that are proportional, we can use proportions to find the height of the tree:

#48/60 = x/40#

Use the cross-product to solve: #a/b = c/d => ad = bc#

#60x = 48 * 40 = 1920#

#x = 1920/60 = 32#

The tree is #32# ft tall