Finding the Height of a Building using Similar Triangles

This lesson teaches how to find the side length of a triangle using the angle-angle criterion for similar triangles. It explains the properties of similar figures, including congruent angles and proportional sides. The lesson highlights common mistakes in matching corresponding sides and provides tips for avoiding them. It demonstrates how to apply these concepts to real-world problems, such as finding the height of a building using shadows and similar triangles. The lesson also covers solving problems using proportions and scale factors, providing multiple methods to reach the same solution.

What is the angle-angle criterion for determining if two triangles are similar?

Explain how to correctly match corresponding sides of similar triangles.

Describe the process of using proportions to find the height of a building using similar triangles.

What is a scale factor and how is it used in the context of similar triangles?

How can you verify that the calculated side lengths of similar triangles are correct?