267,901 views
24 votes
24 votes
The angle of depression from the top of a house to a point on the ground is x°. The distance from the point on the ground to the top of the house is 20 yards m and the house is 7 yards high......

The angle of depression from the top of a house to a point on the ground is x°. The-example-1
User BBQuercus
by
2.7k points

1 Answer

30 votes
30 votes

We know the angle of depression is x, so using alternate interior angles, the angle at the ground is also x

We can either use trig functions or the Pythagorean theorem to find d

I like to use the Pythagorean theorem

a^2 + b^2 = c^2 where a and b are the legs and c is the hypotenuse

7^2 + d^2 = 20^2

49 + d^2 = 400

d^2 = 400-49

d^2 = 351

Taking the square root of each side

d = sqrt(351)

d =18.734994

To the nearest tenth

d = 18.7 yds

The angle of depression from the top of a house to a point on the ground is x°. The-example-1
User Mohsin AR
by
2.5k points
Welcome to QAmmunity.org, where you can ask questions and receive answers from other members of our community.