A man who is 6 feet tall is standing under a streetlight and casts a shadow on the sidewalk the man is standing 15 feet away from the 20-foot streetlight. How long is his shadow ,s ?
using similar triangles,
s/6 = (s+15)/20
4.8
S=6.43
To find the length of the man's shadow, we can use similar triangles. Similar triangles have corresponding angles that are equal and corresponding sides that are proportional.
Let's label the height of the man as h, the length of his shadow as s, and the distance between the man and the streetlight as d.
From the given information, we have:
Height of the man = 6 feet
Distance from the man to the streetlight = 15 feet
Height of the streetlight = 20 feet
Now, let's set up a proportion using similar triangles:
h/d = 20/s
We need to solve for s, the length of the shadow. Rearranging the equation, we have:
s = (d/h) * 20
Substituting the given values into the equation:
s = (15/6) * 20
s = 300/6
s = 50 feet
Therefore, the length of the man's shadow, s, is 50 feet.