Question

A clock tower is 15 feet tall. How long is its shadow when the sun is at an altitude (angle above the horizon) of 60 degrees? give answer in feet

Answer 1

First, we will draw a diagram to understand better the question

so we will use a trigonometric function called the tangent because is the trigonometric function that has as a quotient the opposite leg and the adjacent leg of a triangle in order to obtain how long is the shadow

x is the length of the shadow

`\tan (60)=(15)/(x)`

then we need to isolate the x

`x=(15)/(\tan (60))=8.66`

the shadow is 8.66 ft long