Question

A large totem pole in the state of Washington is 100 ft tall. At a particular time of day, the totem pole casts a 249-ft-long shadow. Find the measure of A to the nearest degree.

Answer 1

I'm assuming A=the hypotenuse

Set an equation using the pythagorean theorem:
100^2+249^2=a^2
10000+62001=a^2
72001=a^2
a=±268.3

Since distance cannot be negative, the answer would be:

A=about 268.3ft