Question

A post 4 feet tall casts a shadow 3.5 feet long. A tree at the same time of day casts a shadow 24.5 feet long. How tall is the tree?

Answer 1

28 feet. Equation: 4/3.5 = x/24.5. Cross multiply and divide to get 28.

Answer 2

Let us make a diagram for the given situation. Please see the attached image.

From the figure, using similar right triangles,

$\frac{h}{4} =\frac{24.5}{3.5} \\h =(\frac{24.5}{3.5})4 \\h=28$

The height of tree is $28\;feet$.