a pole's shadow measures 24 ft. and length of shadow cast by vertical meterstick was 40 cm. How long was the pole?

Question

a pole's shadow measures 24 ft. and length of shadow cast by vertical meterstick was 40 cm. How long was the pole?

Answer 1

Set up the problem using ratios. You know that the ratio of one meter to it's shadow is 40 cm. Therefore, the ratio is 100cm:40cm, which reduces to 5cm:2cm. Now we set up a proportion 5/2 = x/24 and solve. After cross multiplying we get 120 = 2x, which simplifies to x = 60 ft. 

Answer 2

The ratio of the meter stick to its shadow (1m/0.4m) is the same as the ratio of the pole to its shadow (h ft/24 ft):

 

(1 m)/(0.4 m) = (h ft)/24 ft

 

Where h = the height of the pole.  Cross multiply and solve for h:

 

(1)*(24)/(0.4) = h

 

60 feet = h