how tall is a person who casts a 2 foot shadow?

Question

so im confused on how to figure out how to determine how high a person is if they cast a smaller or bigger shadow of themselves, my word problem is, At a certain time of day, a 40- foot high building is casting a shadow of 8 feet, how tall is a person who casts a shadow of 2 feet?

oh and btw im only in 6th grade people so dont judge me please just looking for help

Answer 1

draw two similar right triangles.

the first triangle represents the building which has height 40' (vertical leg) and 8' horizontal leg (shadow).

the smaller triangle has height x and 2' horizontal leg.

 

the smaller triangle is exactly one fourth of the size (in its linear dimensions) of the larger (similar) triangle.

Therefore the "person" casting the 2 ft shadow has to be ¼ of the 40 ft. height.

 

THIS TALL "GUY" IS 10 FT TALL.