TOM is 6 ft tall and his shadow measures 9 ft long. At the same time, the rock he wants to climb casts a shadow of 580 ft. How tall is the rock?

Question

Please help me im very confused

Answer 1

one makes two drawings, of right triangles that are similar. We equate the ratios of height to shadow (legs of rt. ∇):

 

height of rock/580 = 6/9.  solve for height of rock.