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28 votes
28 votes
Suppose that you are headed toward a plateau 60 m high. If the angle of elevation to the top of the plateau is 20°, how far are you from the base of the plateau?

The plateau ismeters away
(Do not round until the final answer. Then round to two decimal places as needed)
PLEASEEE HELP 83 POINTS TO WHOEVER GET IT RIGHT!!!

User Upful
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1 Answer

28 votes
28 votes

Answer:

164.85 m

Explanation:

You have a right triangle with 60 as the side opposite the 20° angle and you are looking for the adjacent side to that angle.

The trig function to use is the tangent of an angle = opp/adj

Let x = distance from you to the base of plateau

So, tan 20 = 60/x

x tan 20 = 60

x = 60/tan 20

x = 164.85 m

You must memorize the definitions all of the trig functions so you can do a problem like this one. OK?

User Brian Deterling
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