The Shadow Knows

Ever wonder how tall that tree is in your front yard? There's a relatively easy way to calculate, using the tree's shadow.

1. Measure the tree's shadow. (say, 60 feet)

2. Measure a yardstick's shadow. (say, 2 feet)

3. Multiply the tree's shadow by 3. (60 x 3 = 180)

4. Divide that number by the yardstick's shadow. (180 ÷ 2 = 90)

5. The result is the correct height of the tree (90 feet)

So, the calculations look like this: 60 x 3 = 180 ÷ 2 = 90.

Or another way: Tree shadow multiplied by 3, divided by yardstick shadow = tree height.

After years of struggling to find out how tall that huge black locust tree was in front of my house, I finally found this method and discovered the tree was 90 feet tall.