Question

A lamppost is located 482 feet from a building.The angle of elevation from the base of the lamppost to the top of the building is 36.4 degrees.Approximately how tall is the building?

Answer 1

Answer: the building is 355.2 feet

Explanation:

A right angle triangle is formed. The distance of the lamppost from the building represents the adjacent side of the right angle triangle. The height of the building represents the hypotenuse of the right angle triangle.

To determine how tall the building is, h, we would apply apply

the Tangent trigonometric ratio.

Tan θ = opposite side/adjacent side. Therefore,

Tan 36.4 = h/482

h = 482Tan36.4

h = 482 × 0.737

h = 355.2 feet