Question

The light from a lamp casts a shadow of a man standing 10 feet away from the lamppost. the shadow is 7 feet long. the angle of elevation from the tip of the shadow to the lamp is 50 degrees. to the nearest foot, the lamppost is ____ feet tall. 17 tan(50)=20.25981107 or 20.26 i am confused when it says round to the nearest foot is the answer 20.26 or 20 or 21 what would you put as the answer?

Answer 1

Answer:  Length of lamp Post will be 20.26 feet .

Step-by-step explanation:

Since we have given that

In ΔABC, we can apply "Trigonometric rule "

$\tan\theta=\frac{AB}{BC}\\\\\tan50\textdegree=\frac{AB}{17}\\\\1.19=\frac{AB}{17}\\\\1.19\times 17=AB\\\\20.259=AB\\\\20.26=AB$

So, Length of lamp Post will be 20.26 feet .

Answer 2

Hello,
your calculus is exact.
Rounded to the nearest foot, 20.259...====>20 (feet)
Distance to 20 is 0.259...
Distance to 21 is 0.740....
shortest is 0.259..==>20 feet