Sarah is attempting to find the height of a tree by using a mirror.  By the laws of physics she knows that the angle of incidence is congruent to the angle of reflection (these are marked in red on the diagram). Explain why the two triangles are similar and if she knows her height and the distance from the mirror to her feet and also the distance from the mirror to the tree how could she calculate the height of the tree?

Elementary Geometry For College Students, 7e
7th Edition
ISBN:9781337614085
Author:Alexander, Daniel C.; Koeberlein, Geralyn M.
Publisher:Alexander, Daniel C.; Koeberlein, Geralyn M.
Chapter4: Quadrilaterals
Section4.1: Properties Of A Parallelogram
Problem 41E: The following problem is based on the Parallelogram Law. In the scaled drawing, each unit...
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Sarah is attempting to find the height of a tree by using a mirror.  By the laws of physics she knows that the angle of incidence is congruent to the angle of reflection (these are marked in red on the diagram). Explain why the two triangles are similar and if she knows her height and the distance from the mirror to her feet and also the distance from the mirror to the tree how could she calculate the height of the tree?

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