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Measuring a distance indirectly

To find the height of a tree, a person walks to a point 30 feet from the base of the tree. She measures an angle of 57° between a line of sight to the top of the tree and the ground, as shown in [link] . Find the height of the tree.

A tree with angle of 57 degrees from vantage point. Vantage point is 30 feet from tree.

We know that the angle of elevation is 57° and the adjacent side is 30 ft long. The opposite side is the unknown height.

The trigonometric function relating the side opposite to an angle and the side adjacent to the angle is the tangent. So we will state our information in terms of the tangent of 57° , letting h be the unknown height.

tan θ = opposite adjacent tan ( 57° ) = h 30 Solve for  h . h = 30 tan ( 57° ) Multiply . h 46.2 Use a calculator .

The tree is approximately 46 feet tall.

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How long a ladder is needed to reach a windowsill 50 feet above the ground if the ladder rests against the building making an angle of 5 π 12 with the ground? Round to the nearest foot.

About 52 ft

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Key equations

Cofunction Identities cos t = sin ( π 2 t ) sin t = cos ( π 2 t ) tan t = cot ( π 2 t ) cot t = tan ( π 2 t ) sec t = csc ( π 2 t ) csc t = sec ( π 2 t )

Key concepts

  • We can define trigonometric functions as ratios of the side lengths of a right triangle. See [link] .
  • The same side lengths can be used to evaluate the trigonometric functions of either acute angle in a right triangle. See [link] .
  • We can evaluate the trigonometric functions of special angles, knowing the side lengths of the triangles in which they occur. See [link] .
  • Any two complementary angles could be the two acute angles of a right triangle.
  • If two angles are complementary, the cofunction identities state that the sine of one equals the cosine of the other and vice versa. See [link] .
  • We can use trigonometric functions of an angle to find unknown side lengths.
  • Select the trigonometric function representing the ratio of the unknown side to the known side. See [link] .
  • Right-triangle trigonometry permits the measurement of inaccessible heights and distances.
  • The unknown height or distance can be found by creating a right triangle in which the unknown height or distance is one of the sides, and another side and angle are known. See [link] .

Section exercises

Verbal

For the given right triangle, label the adjacent side, opposite side, and hypotenuse for the indicated angle.
A right triangle.

A right triangle with side opposite, adjacent, and hypotenuse labeled.

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When a right triangle with a hypotenuse of 1 is placed in the unit circle, which sides of the triangle correspond to the x - and y -coordinates?

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The tangent of an angle compares which sides of the right triangle?

The tangent of an angle is the ratio of the opposite side to the adjacent side.

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What is the relationship between the two acute angles in a right triangle?

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Explain the cofunction identity.

For example, the sine of an angle is equal to the cosine of its complement; the cosine of an angle is equal to the sine of its complement.

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Questions & Answers

A golfer on a fairway is 70 m away from the green, which sits below the level of the fairway by 20 m. If the golfer hits the ball at an angle of 40° with an initial speed of 20 m/s, how close to the green does she come?
Aislinn Reply
cm
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A mouse of mass 200 g falls 100 m down a vertical mine shaft and lands at the bottom with a speed of 8.0 m/s. During its fall, how much work is done on the mouse by air resistance
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Can you compute that for me. Ty
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what is inorganic
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Chemistry is a branch of science that deals with the study of matter,it composition,it structure and the changes it undergoes
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A ball is thrown straight up.it passes a 2.0m high window 7.50 m off the ground on it path up and takes 1.30 s to go past the window.what was the ball initial velocity
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2. A sled plus passenger with total mass 50 kg is pulled 20 m across the snow (0.20) at constant velocity by a force directed 25° above the horizontal. Calculate (a) the work of the applied force, (b) the work of friction, and (c) the total work.
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you have been hired as an espert witness in a court case involving an automobile accident. the accident involved car A of mass 1500kg which crashed into stationary car B of mass 1100kg. the driver of car A applied his brakes 15 m before he skidded and crashed into car B. after the collision, car A s
Samuel Reply
can someone explain to me, an ignorant high school student, why the trend of the graph doesn't follow the fact that the higher frequency a sound wave is, the more power it is, hence, making me think the phons output would follow this general trend?
Joseph Reply
Nevermind i just realied that the graph is the phons output for a person with normal hearing and not just the phons output of the sound waves power, I should read the entire thing next time
Joseph
Follow up question, does anyone know where I can find a graph that accuretly depicts the actual relative "power" output of sound over its frequency instead of just humans hearing
Joseph
"Generation of electrical energy from sound energy | IEEE Conference Publication | IEEE Xplore" ***ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7150687?reload=true
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progressive wave
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A string is 3.00 m long with a mass of 5.00 g. The string is held taut with a tension of 500.00 N applied to the string. A pulse is sent down the string. How long does it take the pulse to travel the 3.00 m of the string?
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Source:  OpenStax, Precalculus. OpenStax CNX. Jan 19, 2016 Download for free at https://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11667/1.6
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