A 5-foot parking meter has a 4-foot shadow from a nearby streetlight. The streetlight is 15 feet tall. How far is the streetlight from the parking meter? Don't want answer, just want formula for figuring out
As always, draw a diagram.
Using similar triangles, it is clear to see that
4/5 = (x+4)/15
To determine the distance between the parking meter and the streetlight, we can use a proportion involving the lengths of their respective shadows.
Let's denote the distance between the parking meter and the streetlight as "x".
According to the information provided, the parking meter is 5 feet tall and has a 4-foot shadow. The streetlight is 15 feet tall.
Using the concept of similar triangles, we can set up the following proportion:
(parking meter height) / (parking meter shadow length) = (streetlight height) / (streetlight shadow length)
In terms of numerical values, this proportion becomes:
5 ft / 4 ft = 15 ft / x
Now, to find the value of "x," we can cross-multiply and solve for "x".
(5 ft) * x = (4 ft) * 15 ft
5x = 60 ft
Dividing both sides of the equation by 5:
x = 12 ft
Therefore, the streetlight is located 12 feet away from the parking meter.