Question

2) Shawn's cat is currently stuck in a tree. Shawn has a ladder that is 15 feet long and he places the ladder 10 feet from the base of the tree. At what angle of depression is Shawn's cat looking at him?

Answer 1

48.19°

Explanation:

Check the attachment for the diagram.

The set up is a right angled triangle

Using the SOH, CAH, TOA trigonometry ratio to get the angle of depression theta.

The length of the ladder will be the hypotenuse of the triangle.

If he places the ladder 10 feet from the base of the tree, the adjacent of the triangle will be the base of the triangle.

Given Hypotenuse = 15feet

Adjacently = 10feet

According to CAH;

cos(theta) = Adjacent/Hypotenuse

cos(theta) = 10/15

cos(theta) = 2/3

theta = arccos(2/3)

theta = 48.19°

Shawn cat is looking at him at an angle of depression of 48.19°