Indirect measurement. Explain why these triangles are similar, then solve for the height of the tree. Nadia has an eye height of 5 ft. She is standing 3 feet away from the mirror when she can see a tree’s reflection. She determines the tree is 21 ft away from the mirror. How tall is the tree?
light forms equal angles of incidence and reflection, so the triangles are similar. So he height h of the tree is found using
h/5 = 21/3