Question

You are measuring the height of a statue. You stand 17 feet from the base of the statue. You measure the angle of elevation from the ground to the top of the statue to be 61º. Find the height h of the statue to the nearest foot.

Answer 1

31 ft

Explanation:

The statue represents the side of a right triangle that is opposite the angle of elevation. The distance to the statue represents the side adjacent to the angle. Then ...

Tan = Opposite/Adjacent

tan(61°) = h/(17 ft)

Multiplying by 17 ft, we have ...

h = (17 ft)tan(61°) ≈ 30.67 ft

h ≈ 31 feet