Question

Aiko stands 5 m from a tree. At that distance, the angle of elevation from the ground to the top of the tree is 80 degrees. Approximately how tall is the tree? Enter the value rounded to the nearest tenth. Do not include the units of measure.

Answer 1

You can use the pythagorean theorem to find the missing side length of this triangle.

a² + b² = c²

Now, just plug in the numbers.

a² + 5² = 80²

So, a² + 25 = 6400

Now, just perform the order of operations on both sides of the equation.


a² + 25 = 6400
-25 -25
------ -------
a² = 6375

√a² = √6375

a = 79.8 meters, if the hypotenuse, or slant height of the boy to the tree is 80m.