Question

15.3

21. A squirrel is standing on the branch of a tree. The angle of elevation from a point on the ground to the squirrel
is 48°. The ground distance from the point to the tree is 28ft. How high above the ground is the squirrel?
Round your answer to the nearest foot.
48⁰
28 ft
21

Answer 1

The height of the squirrel is 31 feet.

Explanation:

You need to know your Right Triangle Trigonometry to do this problem.

Rt Triangle trig is all about ratios. Angles and ratios.

In your question, there is a rt triangle. The side measure given, 28 is next to the angle. The math word for "next to" is "adjacent" You know the adjacent side. The squirrel's height is the opposite side. The ratio that puts together adjacent and opposite is tangent.

tan Angle = opposite/adjacent

tan 48° = x/28

multiply both sides by 28

28•tan48° = x



You have to use a calculator that has trig functions. It will have buttons that say "sin", "cos", and "tan"



Enter 28 × tan48° =

It will return 31.0971504152

Your question asks you to round to the nearest whole.

x = 31

The squirrel's height in the tree is 31ft.