Question

To find the height of a pole, a surveyor uses a theodolite. The theodolite is 4 ft tall. The surveyor stands 140 feet away from the base of the pole. Then she measures the angle of elevation to the top of the pole to be 38o. What is the height of the pole? Round the answer to the nearest foot.

Answer 1

Taking the tangent of the 44° angle, knowing tan = opp/adj, we can do: tan 44° = x/140 x = 140 tan 44° x approx = 140 * 0.9657 = 135.198 Remembering to add in the 4 feet, we get that: The pole is approx 135.198 + 4 feet tall, aka 139.198 ft This makes intuitive sense because the angle.