This beautiful Norfolk Island pine is an evergreen tree that’s a native to subtropical regions in the South Pacific. What do you estimate to be the ratio of its maximum width to its height? How did you estimate it?
Problem of the Week
Menu
Norfolk Island Pine
By Heather McMaster
Answer:
I got a ratio of 7:9 when using a ruler.
This surprised me. From just looking at it, I imagined it to be much taller relative to its width. I think that imagining a height to be more than it is, relative to a width, is a perception that many of us have. The trunk might also make the height more obvious.