A telephone pole casts a shadow that is 17 m long. find the height of the telephone pole if a statue that is 68 cm tall casts a shadow 97 cm long.

Solving this problem is just pretty straight forward. All we have to do is to use the concept of ratio and proportion.

First, let us say that the height of the telephone pole takes the value of variable x.

From the given, we know that the ratio of the telephone pole to its shadow is

x : 17 m

And the ratio of the statue to its shadow is

68 cm: 97 cm

To solve for the value of x, we equate the two:

x : 17 = 68 : 97

We know that the symbol of ratio which is ":" also means division, therefore:

x / 17 = 68 / 97

x = 17 * 68 / 97

x = 11.92 m

Therefore the telephone pole is about 12 m high