Question

A 20 ft flagpole is casting a shadow that is 8.9 ft long. What is the angle of elevation of the sun?

Answer 1

Case: Angle of elevation

Given:

A 20 ft flagpole is casting a shadow that is 8.9 ft long

This describes a right-angle triangle

Required: To find the angle of elevation

Method:

Step 1: First we visualize the main parts of the right angle triangle

Opp = 20ft

Adj= 8ft.

Step 2: We would be using tangent trigonometry ratio

`\begin{gathered} \tan\theta=(opp)/(Adj) \\ tan(\theta)=(20)/(8) \\ tan(\theta)=2.5 \\ \theta=\tan^(-1)(2.5) \\ \theta=68.2\degree \end{gathered}`

Final answer:

The angle of elevation is 68.2 degrees