Let the height of the mast of the sailboat be h. Let us picture the problem.
Using the property of similar triangles;
The ratio of the corresponding sides of similar traingles is equal.
We have:
[tex]\frac{4}{32}=\text{ }\frac{5}{h}[/tex]Cross-Multiply:
[tex]\begin{gathered} 4h\text{ = 5 }\times\text{ 32} \\ \text{Divide both sides by 4:} \\ \frac{4h}{4}\text{ = }\frac{160}{4} \\ h\text{ = 40 ft} \end{gathered}[/tex]Answer: The mast is 40 ft tall
