The angle of elevation of the top of a tower to a point on the ground is 61 degrees. At a point 600 feet farther from the base, in line with the base and the first point and in the same plane, the angle of elevation is 32 degrees . Find the height of the tower and then choose the best answer.
A. 574
B. 503
C. 601
D. 414
Are you sure this isn't a hw problem?
Solution:
A. 574 (meh. full solution i guess...)
A right triangle is formed with the base measuring 600 ft. The adjacent angle is 32 degrees. Using the trigonometric function tangent, the height of the tower can be solved:
tan 32 = h/600
h = 573.98 ft
So I guess it's A...
The angle of elevation of the top of a tower to a point on the ground is 61 degrees. At a point 600 feet farther from the base, in line with the base and the first point and in the same plane, the angle of elevation is 32 degrees . Find the height of the tower and then choose the best answer.
A. 574
B. 503
C. 601
D. 414
The height of the tower is x.
tan(32°)=xxtan(61°)+600ft
!
Using the rule tan(angle) = opposite / adjacent , we can make two equations:
tan(61∘) = hx xtan(61∘) = h x = htan(61∘)
...and...
tan(32∘) = h600+x (600+x)tan(32∘) = h 600+x = htan(32∘) x = htan(32∘)−600
Now we can equate both expressions of x and solve for h:
htan(61∘) = htan(32∘)−600 htan(61∘)−htan(32∘) = −600 h(1tan(61∘)−1tan(32∘)) = −600 h = −600÷(1tan(61∘)−1tan(32∘)) h ≈ 573.5998 h ≈ 574