Question

At noon, the shadow of a flagpole is 30 feet long. At the same time, the shadow of a 200-foot tall building is 50 feet long. What is the height of the flagpole? Round your answer to the nearest foot.

Answer 1

We can use ratios to solve this problem. If a 200 foot tall building has a shadow 50 feet long at noon, then the shadow is one fourth of the height. 

Since is at the same time, the shadow of the flagpole is a fourth of the height. So, the height of the flagpole is 120 feet. 

Hope this helps!