Question

From a distance of 26 meters away, a person notices the Sun just disappearing behind the ooftop of a tall building. Assume the person is observing from ground level. a) Assuming the Sun at the time was at an altitude of 68° above the horizon, what is the height of the building? b) A little while later, the same person observes the building's shadow has reached a length of 54 meters. What is the altitude of the Sun above the horizon at this time?

Answer 1

a)64.4 m

b)50°

Step-by-step explanation:

figure in the attachment

'B' is building

"P" is person

"R" is roof top

BR is building

a) In right angled triangle RBP

`(RB)/(BP)`= tan 68°

⇒ height of the building RB= BP×tan68°

= 26×2.475 m= 64.4 m

b) BS is a shadow and BR is building and altitude is θ

tanθ =
`(64.4)/(54)`

= 1.19

θ= 50°