Question

Scarlett is trying to find the height of a dam. She stands 90 meters away from the dam and records the angle of elevation to the top of the dam to be 26º.

Scarlett's height is 1.65 meters, so the height of the dam is

Answer 1

Make a drawing with a right triangle.

The opposite side, y, is the height of the dam less 1.65 m

The base or adjacent side is 90 m

The angle between the two sides is 90 m.

Then tan (26) = y / 90

y = 90 tan(26) = 90 (0.4877) = 43.90 m

The height of the dam is 43.90m + 1.65m = 45.55 m