ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


Similar Triangles Videos 4 videos

SAT Math 2.5 Geometry and Measurement
258 Views

SAT Math 2.5 Geometry and Measurement

SAT Math 5.5 Geometry and Measurement
254 Views

SAT Math 5.5 Geometry and Measurement

SAT Math 8.4 Geometry and Measurement
327 Views

SAT Math 8.4 Geometry and Measurement

See All

SAT Math 8.4 Geometry and Measurement 327 Views


Share It!


Description:

SAT Math 8.4 Geometry and Measurement

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here’s your shmoop du jour, brought to you by shadows.

00:06

Peter Pan is offering a $500 reward for his, in case you see it.

00:11

A person 5 ft. 10 in. tall casts a shadow 10 ft. 2 in. long.

00:17

Approximately how tall is a tree that casts a 15 ft. 6 in. shadow?

00:24

Here are the potential answers...

00:29

Okay, we’ve got one fella whose shadow is nearly twice as long as he is tall.

00:34

So, now in roughly the same spot…

00:37

…is a tree whose shadow has got our hero’s shadow beat by over 5 feet.

00:42

And we want to figure out… how tall is this tree?

00:44

Well, what we have here is a simple ratio.

00:47

The person’s five feet and 10 inches is to his 10 foot, 2 inch long shadow…

00:52

…as “x” is to the tree’s 15 foot, 6 inch shadow.

00:57

This problem is going to be a heck of a lot easier to deal with if we convert everything

01:00

to inches, so…let’s do that.

01:03

70 inches is to 122 inches…

01:05

…as x is to 186 inches. We’ll set everything up as a fraction…

01:11

70/122 = x/186…

01:15

…and now we can just cross-multiply.

01:17

122x = 13,020

01:20

Divide both sides by 122 and x = 106.72.

01:26

Now, remember…we converted everything to inches, so now we have to convert back to feet.

01:31

106.72 divided by 12 is 8.89 feet…

01:34

…which is option C.

Related Videos

SAT Math 10.1 Geometry and Measurement
327 Views

SAT Math 10.1 Geometry and Measurement. How many cans of paint are needed?

SAT Math: Identifying an Equation for the Average of Two Percentages
23 Views

In 2014, the unemployment rate of one county in California was 7%. In another county, the unemployment rate was 11%. Which of the following express...

SAT Math: Which Equation Represents Profit?
13 Views

Angela is making cookies for a bake sale. She expects each batch of her cookies to sell for $40. It costs her $10 to make one batch of cookies, and...

SAT Math: Using Time and Distance to Calculate Speed
14 Views

Liz leaves her home to drive on a straight highway that leads directly across town for a job interview. At 8:00 a.m., she has driven 5 miles from h...

SAT Math: Calculating Miles Travelled with a Linear Equation
13 Views

Bruce runs at a pace of one mile per 10 minutes. If he pauses for a five-minute break at the end of each mile, how many miles can Bruce run in 1 ho...