Question

You stand 100’ from the base of a tower. The tower is 1,058’ tall. What is the angle from where you are standing to the top of the tower?

Answer 1

Answer: 85°

Step-by-step explanation:

Trig functions are remembered by

SOD CAD TOA,

sin = opposite / distance, cos = adjacent / distance, and tan = opposite / adjacent.

Here we have the adjacent side = 100, opposite side = 1058. The tower would fall over if it weren't vertical, and we assume the area is flat and level. So tangent of the answer is 10.58.

We need the angle whose tangent is 10.58.

On Android calculator you swipe left to get the trig functions, tap INV, if RAD is showing tap it to change it to DEG, and tap tan⁻¹. Swipe right and you see tan⁻¹(. Enter 10.58 and the result shows 84.6005606. If it shows 1.47655833 tap the RAD in upper left to change to DEG.