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#1 2006-08-07 08:07:20
- Ros3
- Guest
Thales :(
I got really great info on pythagoras here, but I couldn't find anything about Thales and his way of measuring shadows. I don't understand it and my project it for tomorrow! 
Anyway, I think this site is cool. Thanks to sites like these I still haven't completely given up on math. I like the logical thinking, but otherwise....
#2 2006-08-07 09:40:53
- MathsIsFun
- Administrator
- Registered: 2005-01-21
- Posts: 7,713
Re: Thales :(
That's a good point, Ros3, maybe we should have page about Thales measuring the height of Pyramids.
He simply waited for a time of day when the length of his own shadow was exactly the same as his own height, then measured the length of the pyramid's shadow to know its height.
Because the height and the length of the shadow form a triangle, and when they are the same length it is a 45° triangle.
And the triangle made with his height and shadow, will be Similar to the one made by the pyramid.
"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God ..." - Leon M. Lederman
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