Question

from the top of a barn 25 feet tall, you see a cat on the ground. The angle of depression to the cat is 40°. How many feet must the cat walk to reach the barn.

Answer 1

21 feet (20.977)

Explanation:

1. Draw a picture, it makes it much easier. Draw a right triangle with the vertical labeled 25 and the horizontal labeled X, then label the angle adjacent to the horizontal and hypotenuse 40°

2. Use tangent because X is opposite of 40 and 25 is adjacent to angle 40. the equation would be Tan40/1 = X/25

3. You then cross multiply to get 25Tan(40) = X

4 You then plug it into a calculator and get the full answer of 20.97749078, but I always round up to either 20.98 or 21 feet, whatever your teacher allows