EXAMPLE 3 Standardized Test Practice

EXAMPLE 3 Standardized Test Practice SOLUTION The flagpole and the woman form sides of two right triangles with the ground, as shown below. The sun’s rays hit the flagpole and the woman at the same angle. You have two pairs of congruent angles, so the triangles are similar by the AA Similarity Postulate.

EXAMPLE 3 Standardized Test Practice You can use a proportion to find the height x. Write 5 feet 4 inches as 64 inches so that you can form two ratios of feet to inches. Write proportion of side lengths. Cross Products Property Solve for x. x = 80 40x = 64(50) The flagpole is 80 feet tall. The correct answer is C. ANSWER x ft 64 in. 50 ft 40 in. =

GUIDED PRACTICE for Example 3 4. What If ? A child who is 58 inches tall is standing next to the woman in Example 3. How long is the child’s shadow? ANSWER in.

GUIDED PRACTICE for Example 3 5. You are standing in your backyard, and you measure the lengths of the shadows cast by both you and a tree. Write a proportion showing how you could find the height of the tree. tree height your height = length of your shadow length of shadow SAMPLE ANSWER