Question

a ramp 29 ft long rises to a platform. the bottom of the platform is 20 ft from the foot of the ramp. find x, the angle of elevation of the ramp. round your answer to the nearest tenth of a degree

Answer 1

We will be using the cosine function to figure this out. 
The ramp, ground, and platform form a right triangle. 
The hypotenuse is 29, and the side adjacent to ∠x is 20.
SO:
      Cos ∠x = 20/29
      Cos ∠x = 0.68965517241379
 
Use the function on your calculator to find what angle has a Cos of 0.6896551
          Cos 0.6896551 = 46.397°

ANSWER: the angle of elevation is 46.4°

Hope this helps! God bless. :)