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a yard stick is placed parallel to the tree which all so forms a small right triangle with the measures of 3ft and 4ft.

2007-03-28 13:01:50 · 4 answers · asked by tina j 1 in Home & Garden Garden & Landscape

4 answers

Simple matter of proportions. If I understand a yard stick (3 foot) casts of a four foot shadow. Then:

3/4 = x/22

Solve for x. x=16.5 feet.

You can also use trig if you know the angle of the sun, which depends on latitude, time of day, and date. But with 3' and 4' you can figure the angle, but why make things more complicated.

See when you thought "What am I going to do this algebra, geometry trig stuff? Why do I need to take this stuff?" There's your answer.

2007-03-28 13:30:32 · answer #1 · answered by robling_dwrdesign 5 · 0 0

If the yard stick casts a 4 foot shadow (I'm assuming that's what you meant) then you can use similar triangles to find that the height of the tree is 16.5 ft.

2007-03-28 13:20:11 · answer #2 · answered by Joe K 1 · 1 0

This brings back my days in HS when in geometry class we had to measure the height of the flag pole. We used a sextant to get the angle and measured the distance to the base of the pole. Then you have to look in a book to get the cosine for that angle. In other words look in a geometry book This taxes my memory as I graduated HS in 1943.

2007-03-28 13:15:42 · answer #3 · answered by John P 6 · 0 1

It is a simple mathematic equation, a porportion.

3 n
___ ___ = n=16.5 wich is the tree's height

4 22

2007-03-28 13:22:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

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