Question

A building 190 feet tall casts a 60-foot long shadow. If a person stands at the end of the shadow and looks up to the top of the building, what is the angle of the person's eyes to the top of the building (to the nearest hundredth of a degree)? (Assume the person's eyes are 4 feet above ground level.)

Answer 1

The angle is approximately 81 degrees. Since the person's eyes are 4 feet above the ground level, and the top of the building is 190 feet tall, the vertical distance between the person's eyes and the top of the building is 190-4=186 feet. The horizontal distance is 30 feet, since the person is standing at the end of the shadow. Therefore tan(angle)=186/30, the angle is equal to arctan(186/30)=81, approximately.

Explanation: