Question

A child that is 1.4 meters tall is standing next to a flagpole. The child's shadow is 1.2 meters long. At the same time, the shadow of the flagpole is 7.5 meters long. How tall is the flag pole?

Answer 1

The flag pole is
`8.75 \: m` or write it as
`9 \: m` tall.

Explanation:

Let "p" be the height of the flag pole.

The ratio of the child height to the pole height is the same as the ratios of their respective shadows, so,

`(1.4)/(p) = (1.2)/(7.5)`

Now, Cross multiply :-

`1.2 * p = 1.4 * 7.5`

→
`1.2 * p = 10.5`

→
`p = (10.5)/(1.2)`

→
`p = 8.75`

This
`8.75` can be rounded off to
`9` as it ends with
`.75`

So, the flag pole is 9 metres tall.