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Derrick is visiting the San Jacinto State Park outside Houston, Texas. The angle of elevation for his line of sight to the top of the San Jacinto Column is 75°. If the column is 570 feet tall and Derrick’s eyes are 6 feet from the ground, how far is he from the base of the column to the nearest foot?

 

would it be sin75=570-6

sin75=x/564?
 

 Jun 1, 2014

Best Answer 

 #1
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What you're looking for is the length of the adjacent side.  Given the opposite side is 564, and tan=opp/adj.

Let x=adj

then tan(75)=564/x.     Multiply both sides by x

xTan(75)=564               Divide both sides by tan(75)

x=564/tan(75)

 

triangle showing Opposite, Adjacent and Hypotenuse

 Jun 1, 2014
 #1
avatar+28 
+5
Best Answer

What you're looking for is the length of the adjacent side.  Given the opposite side is 564, and tan=opp/adj.

Let x=adj

then tan(75)=564/x.     Multiply both sides by x

xTan(75)=564               Divide both sides by tan(75)

x=564/tan(75)

 

triangle showing Opposite, Adjacent and Hypotenuse

TaviSage Jun 1, 2014
 #2
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It would be tan75=564/x

 Jun 1, 2014

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