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39 votes
In the figure below, when the sund angle of elevation is 50 degrees, the tree casts a shadow 80 feet long. which can be used to find the height of the tree?

In the figure below, when the sund angle of elevation is 50 degrees, the tree casts-example-1
User DrLazer
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1 Answer

27 votes
27 votes

A

1) In this picture, we can see clearly a triangle with an adjacent leg to an angle of 50º and an opposite leg (that tree).

2) So the trigonometric ratio to be used is the one that relates both legs:


\begin{gathered} \tan (50)=\frac{opposite\text{ leg}}{\text{adjacent}} \\ \tan (50)\text{ =}(x)/(80) \end{gathered}

3) Hence, the answer is A

User Steve Kinyon
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