JEE AdvancedPhysicsMotionNumerical+4 / −1
A person of height is walking away from a lamp post of height along a straight path on the flat ground. The lamp post and the person are always perpendicular to the ground. If the speed of the person is , the speed of the tip of the person's shadow on the ground with respect to the person is .
Numerical answer
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Correct answer: 40
- Set up the geometry
Let:
- = distance of the person from the lamp post
- = length of the person's shadow
Then the distance of the tip of the shadow from the lamp post is .
Given:
- height of lamp post
- height of person
- speed of person
- Use similar triangles
The large triangle has:
- height
- base
The small triangle has:
- height
- base
So,
Cross-multiplying,
- Differentiate with respect to time
Substitute cm/s:
- Interpret the required quantity
The question asks for the speed of the tip of the shadow on the ground with respect to the person.
This is exactly the rate at which the shadow length changes, i.e. .
Hence,
- Comparison with stored answer
Stored correct answer =
Our derived answer also = . Therefore, the answer agrees.
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