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| Math Central | Quandaries & Queries |
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Subject: angles of depression and elevation A 55 ft. flagpole casts a 25 ft. shadow. Calculate the angle of elevation to the sun to the nearest degree. |
Hello Zee.
Whenever I get a problem like this, I like to draw a quick sketch:
You can see from the sketch that you have a right triangle with the lengths of the two legs known. You want angle A in the sketch, so you need to use the arctan function to find it.
Hope this helps,
Sue
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