Question

​solve the problem. a student measures the length of the shadow of a monument to be 600 ft. if the monument is 695 ft tall, approximate the angle of elevation of the sun to the nearest tenth of a degree.

Answer 1

49.2°

Explanation:

You want the angle of elevation of the sun if a 695 ft monument casts a 600 ft shadow.

Tangent

The tangent relation between sides and angles in a right triangle is ...

Tan = Opposite/Adjacent

In the attached figure, this means ...

tan(S) = MB/SB

Angle

Using the inverse tangent function we find ...

S = arctan(MB/SB) = arctan(695/600) ≈ 49.2°

The angle of elevation of the sun is about 49.2°.

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