Question

A large nest of recently hatched bald eagles is located at the top of the Eiffel Tower (which is 324 meters tall) and is attracting much attention from the many visitors to the city of Paris. A tourist is standing at ground level, 54 meters across from the Eiffel Square, aiming her binoculars at the nest. At what angle should she set her binoculars in order to see the next? Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a degree.

Answer 1

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Answer:

80.5°

Explanation:

The applicable trig function is the tangent.

Tan = Opposite/Adjacent

In this scenario, the side opposite the angle is the tower height, 324 m. The side adjacent is the distance to the tower, 54 m. Then the angle α is related by ...

tan(α) = 324/54

The value of the angle with this tangent is found using the arctangent function:

α = arctan(324/54) ≈ 80.5°

She should set her binoculars to 80.5°.