Question

Maria is standing next to a building whose shadow is 15.4 feet long. If Maria is 5 feet tall and is casting a shadow 3.5 feet long, how high is the building?

Answer 1

Answer: The building is 22 feet tall.

Explanation:

We can create a proportion to help us solve this question. We will have the length of the shadow in the numerator and the height of Maria and the building in the denominator.

`\displaystyle (15.4\;ft)/(x\;ft) =(3.5\;ft)/(5\;ft)`

Cross-multiply:

15.4 * 5 = 3.5 * x

77 = 3.5x

3.5x = 77

Divide both sides of the equation by 3.5:

x = 22 feet tall