Trigonometry question

Question

A building that is 510 feet tall casts a shadow the is 140 ft long m. Find the angle of elevation, in degrees, to the sun.

angle of elevation___ degrees

Answer 1

You have two parallel lines, one going through the top of the light house and the other along the ground.

Opposite angles of a line intersecting parallel lines are equal, so the angle of elevation of the sun from the top of the light house and the angle from the tip of the shadow to the top of the lighthouse are the same.

tan(x) = opposite/adjacent = 510/140

x = tan^-1(3.642) = 74.65°