Nisha is looking out the window of her apartment building at a sculpture in a park across the street. The top of Nisha's window
is 60 feet from the ground. The angle of depression from the top of Nisha's window to the bottom of the sculpture is 25°. How far away from the building is the sculpture? Round your answer to the nearest hundredth. 25.36 feet
27.98 feet
100.22 feet
128.67 feet
Hi, since the situation forms a right triangle (see attachment) we have to apply the next trigonometric function.
Tan α = opposite side / adjacent side
Where α is the angle of depression from the top of Nisha's window to the bottom of the sculpture ,the opposite side is the height Nisha's window from the ground (60), and the adjacent side is the distance between the building and the sculpture (x).
Replacing with the values given:
Tan 25 = 60/x
Solving for x
x =60 / tan 25
x = 128.67 feet.
Feel free to ask for more if needed or if you did not understand something.