Question

Larry and Tom were standing next to each other in the backyard when Tom challenged Larry to guess how tall he was. Larry knew his own height is 6.8 feet and when they measured their shadows, Larry's shadow was 8 feet and Tom's was 7.75 feet long. What is Tom's height (in feet)? (Round your answer to one decimal place.)

Answer 1

In this case the two heights are directly proportional and the height of Tom must be:

$\frac{x}{7.75}=\frac{6.8}{8}$$x=\frac{6.8\cdot7.75}{8}$$x=\frac{52.7}{8}$$x=6.5875$$x\approx6.59$

Approximately 6.59 ft