Question

The statue of liberty is 305.5 feet high. when the angle of elevation of the sun is 50 , what is the distance to the tip of the shadow from a point at water level and directly below the highest point of the statue?

Answer 1

Here as per figure we need to find the base of the triangle

here we know that the angle of elevation is 50 degree

Now from this triangle we have

Base = L

Height = 305.5 ft

now from trigonometry we have

`tan\theta = (opposite side)/(adjacent side)`

now we have

`tan50 = (305.5)/(L)`

`L = (305.5)/(tan50)`

`L = 256.3 ft`

so image of tip will be at distance 256.3 ft away from base