a 172 foot tall tree casts a shadow on the ground. If the shadow is 114 ft long, find the distance from the top of the tree to the tip of the shadow.

Answer 1

The Pythagorean Theorem says:

a² + b² = c² for:

If you draw a picture of this problem, it becomes pretty easy to see what to do:

So 172² + 114² = c²

c² = 29584 + 12996

c² = 42580

c = √42580

c = 206.35 ft