Question

The angle of depression from the top of a sheer cliff to point A on the ground is 35º. If point A is280 feet from the base of the cliff, how tall is the cliff? Round the answer to the nearest tenth of afoot.

Answer 1

In this case, to calculate the tall of the cliff, consider the distance from the base of the cliff to the point A, as a hypotenuse of a right triangle.

The tall of the clift is given by:

h = 280 sin(35)

h = 280(0.573)

h = 160.60

Hence, the tal of the clift is 160.60 feet