Width of canal

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Width of canal

by maihuna » Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:53 am
To find the width of a canal a rod is fixed vertically on the bank so as to show 17/8 m of its length. The observer, whose eye is 17/6 m above the ground retires at right angles from the canal until he sees the top of the rod in a line with the further bank. If his distance from the nearer bank is now 10 m what is the width of the canal.

10
20
30
40
50
(all data in meter)
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Triangle similarity

by way2kailash » Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:05 pm
Answer 30.

Lets say AB is the person standing 10 m from the canal and DE be the rod on near bank. C be the point on further bank that coincides with top of the rod. In here triangle ABC is similar to triangle DEC as all angles have same measure.

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Re: Triangle similarity

by xilef » Wed Jul 22, 2009 1:24 pm
way2kailash wrote:Answer 30.

Lets say AB is the person standing 10 m from the canal and DE be the rod on near bank. C be the point on further bank that coincides with top of the rod. In here triangle ABC is similar to triangle DEC as all angles have same measure.
Just to elaborate:

For similar triangles, the ratio of sides are equal.

so,

(17/6)/(17/8) = (10+x)/x
x = 30