Question

A 45 foot ladders leaning up against a building. The base of the latter is 20 feet away from the building. What is the angle of elevation to the top of the building

Answer 1

The angle of elevation to the top of the building is 63.61 degrees

Explanation:

Here, we want to calculate angle of elevation to the top of the building.

For this, we need a triangle

Please check for this in the attachment.

From the diagram, we are to calculate the angle theta.

To do this, we use trigonometric identities.

Looking at what we have, we have the hypotenuse and the adjacent.

So the trigonometric identity to use is the cosine

Mathematically Cosine theta = adjacent/hypotenuse

Thus, Cos theta = 20/45

Cos theta = 0.444444444444444

Theta = Arc cos(0.444444444444444)

Theta = 63.61 degrees