Discussion

Find the angle of elevation of the sun when the shadow of a pole of 18 m height is 6 √ 3 m long?

Answer: A

The pole and its shadow are the two legs of the right triangle formed by the sun's ray.

\[ \tan\theta = \frac{\text{height}}{\text{shadow}} = \frac{18}{6\sqrt{3}} \]

\[ \tan\theta = \frac{3}{\sqrt{3}} = \frac{3\sqrt{3}}{3} = \sqrt{3} \]

\[ \theta = 60^{\circ} \]

The shadow being shorter than the pole already tells you the sun is above \( 45^{\circ} \), so 60° is the only standard angle that can fit.

No comment is present. Be the first to comment.

Loading…