Question

a building in a downtown business area casts a shadow that measures 88 meters along the ground. the straight - line distance from the top of the building to the end of the shadow it creates is at a 32° angle with the ground. what is the approximate height of the building? round your answer to the nearest meter. the building is meters high.

Explanation:

Step1: Use tangent function

$\tan\theta=\frac{h}{d}$, where $\theta = 32^{\circ}$, $d = 88$ meters and $h$ is height.

Step2: Solve for $h$

$h = d\times\tan\theta=88\times\tan32^{\circ}$
$h\approx88\times0.6249\approx55$

Answer:

55