Question

A traffic camera sits on top of a tower that has a height of 39 ft. The angles of depression of a car on a straight road at the same level as that of the base of the tower and on the same side of the tower are 31°. Calculate the the distance between the base of the poll and the car. Round to the nearest tenth of a foot. *

Answer 1

48ft

Explanation:

• Distance of car A from the tower
• Consider ∆ACD tan25 = 50/AC AC = 50/tan25 = 50/0.4663 = 107.2 ft

• Distance of car B from the tower
• Consider ∆BCD tan40 = 50/BC AC = 50/tan40 = 50/0.8391 = 59.6 ft

• Distance from cars A and B AB = AC – BC = 107.2 – 59.6 = 48 ft The distance between the two cars is 48ft