After Valen had stacked up 17 chairs in the canteen after a celebration, he noticed 3 things. Firstly, each of the chairs was stacked the same height above the other. Secondly, the foot of the ninth chair was 43.2 cm above that of the first. Thirdly, the chairs reached a height of 174.2 cm. What is the height of each chair?
Number of chairs that contributed to the height of 43.2 cm above the first chair
= 9 - 1
= 8

Height increase with each additional stacked chair
= 43.2 ÷ 8
= 5.4 cm

Number of chairs stacked on top of the first chair
= 17 - 1
= 16

Height increase of 16 additional stacked chairs
= 16 x 5.4
= 86.4 cm

Height of one chair
= 174.2 - 86.4
= 87.8 cm

Answer(s): 87.8 cm