Question

Anna and Veronica are on the opposite sides of a tower of 160 meters height. They measure the angle of elevation of the top of the tower as 40° and 55° respectively. Find the distance between the two friends.

Answer 1

Answer: The distance between the girls is 362.8 meters.

Explanation:

So we have two triangle rectangles that have a cathetus in common, with a length of 160 meters.

The adjacent angle to this cathetus is 40° for Anna, then the opposite cathetus (the distance between Anna and the tower) can be obtained with the relationship:

Tan(A) = opposite cath/adjacent cath.

Tan(40°) = X/160m

Tan(40°)*160m = 134.3 m

Now, we can do the same thing for Veronica, but in this case the angle adjacent to the tower is 55°

So we have:

Tan(55°) = X/160m

Tan(55°)*160m = X = 228.5 m

And we know that the girls are in opposite sides of the tower, so the distance between the girls is equal to the sum of the distance between each girl and the tower, then the distance between the girls is:

Dist = 228.5m + 134.3m = 362.8m