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Draw a diagram to illustrate the problem as shown in the figure below.
Let h the height of the hill. =
At position A, the angle of elevation is 40°, and the horizontal distance to the foot of the hill is x.
By definition,
tan(40°) = h/x h = x tan40 = 0.8391x
(1)
At position B, Joe is (x - 450) ft from the foot of the hill. His angle of elevation is
40 + 18 = 58°.
By definition, tan(58°) = h/(x - 450)
h = (x - 450) tan(58°) = 1.6003(x-450)
h = 1.6003x - 720.135 (2)
Equate (1) and (2).
1.6003x - 720.135 = 0.8391x 0.7612x = 720.135
x = 946.0523
From (1), obtain
h = 0.8391*946.0523 = 793.8 ft
Answer: The height of the hill is approximately 794 ft (nearest integer)
