While going for my daily run, I passed a squirrel carrying a nut in her mouth. When she saw me, she ran towards a safe place and, coming to a stone wall, easily jumped up on it and disappeared. I began to wonder how high I could jump if I were a squirrel.
If an average squirrel's back leg height from ground to hip is 3 ½ inches, and that squirrel can jump a 2 foot high wall, what height wall could I jump if I were a giant squirrel? My leg height from ground to hip is 36 inches. Give your answer in inches.
Let's use a proportion.
3.5/2 = 36/x
3.5x = 72
x = 20.57 feet
20.57 * 12 = _______ inches
3 ½ = 3.5 = 7 / 2
2 foot = 2 ∙ 12 = 24 in
3.5 / 24 = 36 / x
Cross-multiply:
3.5 ∙ x = 24 ∙ 36
3.5 x = 864
Divide both sides by 3.5
x = 864 / 3.5 =
864 / ( 7 / 2 ) =
864 ∙ 2 / 7 =
1728 / 7 =
( 1722 + 6 ) / 7 =
1722 / 7 + 6 / 7 =
246 + 6 / 7 = 246 6/7 in
To determine the height of a wall you could jump if you were a giant squirrel, we can use the concept of ratios.
First, let's find the proportion between the back leg height and the wall height for the average squirrel.
The average squirrel's back leg height is 3 ½ inches, and it can jump a 2-foot high wall (which is equal to 24 inches).
So, we can set up the following ratio:
(Back leg height of squirrel) / (Wall height) = (Back leg height of giant squirrel) / (Unknown wall height)
Plugging in the values we know:
(3 ½ inches) / (24 inches) = (36 inches) / (Unknown wall height)
Now, let's solve for the unknown wall height by cross-multiplying:
(3 ½ inches) * (Unknown wall height) = (24 inches) * (36 inches)
To calculate the unknown wall height, we can rewrite 3 ½ inches as a fraction: 3.5 inches.
(3.5 inches) * (Unknown wall height) = (24 inches) * (36 inches)
To isolate the unknown wall height, divide both sides of the equation by 3.5 inches:
(Unknown wall height) = (24 inches * 36 inches) / (3.5 inches)
Calculating the right side of the equation:
(Unknown wall height) = 864 inches / 3.5 inches
Simplifying:
(Unknown wall height) ≈ 246.86 inches
Therefore, if you were a giant squirrel with a back leg height of 36 inches, you would be able to jump a wall approximately 246.86 inches high.