Question

MR X was at the crown of the statue of liberty in an island of New York City. He sighted a cargo ship coming into New York harbor with an angle of depression 35 degree. How far is the cargo ship from the base of the statue of liberty

Answer 1

d = h/1.43

Explanation:

Given

• Angle of depression = 35°

To Find

• Distance between cargo ship and base of The Statue of Liberty

Solving

• Let the height of the statue be 'h' and distance between it and the ship be 'd'
• Upon changing the viewpoint (you'll see why) to the ship viewing the top of the statue, the angle is now (90 - 35)° = 55°
• Then, upon taking the tan ratio of the angle between them :

⇒ tan 55° = h/d

⇒ 1.43 (approx.) = h/d

⇒ d = h/1.43

[∴ Input the value of height in this formula if it is given, and you should be able to get your answer.]