Question

On a sunny day, Elliot notices that a lamp post casts a shadow on the ground. If the shadow is 18 ft long and the lamp post is 13 ft tall, what is the angle of elevation of the sun? (Assume the lamp post is at a right angle to the ground.)

A. 35.84°
B. 43.76°
C. 46.24°
D. 54.16°

Answer 1

Given that:
Height of lamp post= 13 ft
Length of shadow= 18 ft
So here Opposite=13 ft and adjacent is 18 ft.
Let the angle of elevation=x
To find x, we use tangent ratio.
tan x = Opposite/ Adjacent
Put values
tan x = 13/18
tan x =0.72

`x=tan^(-1) (0.72) \\ x=35.84^o`

Option A is correct.