SOLUTION: To find the height of a flagpole, a surveyor moves 90 feet away from the base of the flagpole and then, with a transit 3 feet tall, measures the angle of elevation to the top of th

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Question 576268: To find the height of a flagpole, a surveyor moves 90 feet away from the base of the flagpole and then, with a transit 3 feet tall, measures the angle of elevation to the top of the flagpole to be 60°. What is the height of the flagpole? Round your answer to the nearest foot.
Answer by nerdybill(7384) About Me  (Show Source):
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To find the height of a flagpole, a surveyor moves 90 feet away from the base of the flagpole and then, with a transit 3 feet tall, measures the angle of elevation to the top of the flagpole to be 60°. What is the height of the flagpole? Round your answer to the nearest foot.
applying trig...
Let x = length of flag pole from the transit
then
tan(60) = x/90
90*tan(60) = x
155.88 = x
rounded
156 = x
.
Now, we must add the height of the transit:
156 + 3 = 159 feet