SOLUTION: How tall is the building that casts a 76 feet shadow when the angle of elevation of the sun is 30°?

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Question 1159063: How tall is the building that casts a 76 feet shadow when the angle of elevation of the sun is 30°?
Found 2 solutions by Amily_2190, MathLover1:
Answer by Amily_2190(27) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
To solve this problem, draw a right triangle and use your knowledge of basic trigonometry.

The angle is 30 degrees and the adjacent side is 76 feet(shadow of the building). The opposite side is the unknown (x) because we are trying to figure out the height of the building.

With this information, we know that it is a tangent because opposite over adjacent %28x%2F76%29=+tan+30+degrees.

Solve for x by multiplying both sides by 76.
x is approximately 43.9 feet.

Answer by MathLover1(20849) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!

Think of the arrangement like a triangle with bottom being 76 feet for the shadow, and you want the vertical length.
if the angle 30° , you have
y%2F76=tan%2830%29

y=76%2Atan%2830%29
y=76%2A%281%2Fsqrt%283%29%29
highlight%28y=43.88%29 feet