The Washington Monument Trig

Question

The Washington Monument in Washington, DC is 55s feet tall. If our WWE group is standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 3455 feet away from the Washington Monument, assuming that our eyes are level with its base, at what angle of elevation do we sight the top of the Washington Monument? Round your final answer(s) to the nearest hundredth.

Answer 1

We have a right triangle here.  We are trying to find one of the angles.  Let's call it θ.  We know the side opposite θ is 55s feet (there's a typo in there!) and the adjacent side is 3455 feet, so

 

tan θ = opposite/adjacent

tan θ = 55s/3455

θ = arctan(55s/3455)

 

Find the correct height of the Washington Monument and you'll find the angle of elevation.