Trying to Learn Word Problems and I'm hoping it to be broken down to understand how it's solved. A U-2 spy plane takes an aerial photo of a building suspected of keeping nuclear warheads.

Question

When the photo is taken, the angle of elevation of the sun is 35 degrees. When comparing the shadow cast by the building in question to shadows of other objects of known size in the photo, scientists determine that the building's shadow in question is 81 feet in length.

So how tall is the building? (need to round answer two decimal places)

Answer 1

b = 81tan35 = about 81(.7002) = about 56.72 feet

use a calculator with a trig function

tan30 = 1/sqr3 =about 1.732/3 = .577

tan35 = a little more than tan30

81tan30= 46.77

81tan35 = a little more than 46.77

81tan45 = 81

Answer 2

Draw and label a diagram!

'The angle of elevation from the shadow's tip on the ground to the

top of the building is 35°.

h represents the height of the building

tan 35° = h / 81

Can you solve for h and answer?