Q:

At noon, a tree casts a shadow that is 40 feet long. The distance from the top of the tree to the furthest tip of the shadow is 60 feet.

Accepted Solution

A:
For this case what we must do is find the height of the tree.
 For this we use the Pythagorean theorem in the following way:
 a ^ 2 + b ^ 2 = c ^ 2
 Where,
 a: height of the tree
 b: base of the triangle (length of the shadow)
 c: hypotenuse (The distance from the top of the tree to the furthest tip of the shadow).
 Substituting we have:
 a ^ 2 + (40) ^ 2 = (60) ^ 2
 Clearing to have:
 a = root ((60) ^ 2 - (40) ^ 2)
 a = 44.72135955
 a = 44.7 feet
 Answer:
 The height of the tree is:
 a = 44.7 feet