he cast a 4 foot 5 1/2 inch shadow when a 6-foot pole cast a 3- foot shadow. How tall was he?

Question

You find the value of x.

Answer 1

If a 6-ft pole casts a 3-ft shadow, the shadow is half the height of the pole. So the pole is twice as tall as the shadow is long.

So his height must be twice the length of his shadow=2×4'5½"=8'11" (that’s very tall!)

Answer 2

Step 1: Draw a picture

Step 2: Set up an equation

Step 3: Convert to centimeters

Step 4: Cross multiply

Step 5: Divide to find x