Question

A ship's captain sites the top of a 200 foot cliff at a 17 degree angle of elevation, how far is this ship from the base of the cliff round to the nearest foot? ​

Answer 1

in this case you have a SOH-CAH-TOA problem.

we need Adjacent and opposite so we use tan

tan (17) = O/A

tan (17) = 200ft / x

x = 654.17 ft

to the nearest foot = 654 ft