Applications of Soh Cah Toa, Law of Sines and C

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Angle of Elevation and Depression
Law of Sines
Law of Cosines
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Soh Cah Toa can be used through:
1. Angle of Elevation
The angle of elevation of an object as seen by an observer is the angle between the
horizontal and the line from the object to the observer's eye (the line of sight)

Examples 
Solving Problems Using Sine Function

  

Example 1: Use the sine function to find "d"

We know

* The angle the cable makes with the seabed is 39° 

* The cable's length is 30 m. 

And we want to know "d" (the distance down).

Start with:
sin 39° = opposite/hypotenuse = d/30
Swap Sides:
d/30 = sin 39° 

Use a calculator to find sin 39°:

d/30 = 0.6293…

Multiply both sides by 30:

d = 0.6293… x 30 = 18.88 to 2 decimal places.

The depth "d" is 18.88 m

                                                                                                                                                                      
(Retrieved from: http://www.mathsisfun.com/sine-cosine-tangent.html)

Example 2: What is the height of the flagpole?

Height of the building

Sin x= Opp/Hyp
Sin 60°= Opp/ 250
Opp= 250sin60°
Opp= 250 (.87)
Opp= 217.5 m

H of the bldg.= 217.5+1.60

H of the bldng. =219.1 m

Height of the building with the flagpole                              

Sin x= Opp/Hyp                   
Sin 70°= Opp/ 300
Opp= 300sin70°                                                    Height of the flagpole= 283.60-
219.1 = 64.5 m
Opp= 300 (.94)
Opp= 282 m + 1.60
Opp= 283.60 m

Example 3:  A girl is flying her kite with 42° angle of elevation. If she

knows the length of the string of her kitewhich is 300 m, how high is the
kite? The triangle formed is shown on the left.

in x=  opposite/hypotenuse 
Sin42°= opposite/300
Opposite= 300sin42°
Opposite= 300(.67)
Opposite= 201 m

Solving Problems Using Cosine Function

Example 1: Find the size of angle a°

 Step 1 The two sides we know are Adjacent (6,750) and Hypotenuse
(8,100).
 Step 2 Use Cosine Function.
 Step 3 Calculate Cos x= Adjacent / Hypotenuse = 6,750/8,100 =
0.8333
  Step 4 Find inverse cos of 0.8333:

            cos a° = 6,750/8,100 = 0.8333

                                                                inverse cos of 0.8333 = 33.6° 

Example 2: What is the measure of the shorter side?

Cos x= adjacent/hypotenuse
Cos 60°= adjacent/300
Adjacent= 300cos60°
Adjacent= 300(0.5)
Adjacent= 150 m

Example 3: What is the measure of the longest side of the triangle?

Cos x= adjacent/hypotenuse
Cos 30°= 400/hypotenuse
Hypotenuse= 400/cos30°
Hypotenuse= 400/0.87
Hypotenuse= 460 m

Solving Problems Using Tangent Function

Example 1: Michael, whose eyes are six feet off the ground, is standing 36 feet away
from the base of a building, and he looks up at a 50° angle of elevation to a point on the
edge of building’s roof. To the nearest foot, how tall is the building? 

Step 1: Make a detailed sketch of the situation. Make sure to include auxiliary
horizontal lines as needed.

Step 2: Assign variables to represent the relevant unknowns. In this

example, we shall use the variable y to represent the vertical leg of the right
triangle, and h to represent the height of the building.

Step 3: Use SOHCAHTOA to solve for the unknown side of the right triangle:

 tan 50° = y/36

                                                                                                            y= 36tan50

                                                                                                            y= 36(1.19)

                                                                                                            y= 42.90 ft.

Step 4: Determine the height of the building: Since Michael’s eyes are six
feet from the ground, we must add six feet to variable y to get h:

h= 6+y

h= 6+42.90

h= 48.90 ft.
Step 5: Check for reasonableness: If Michael were looking up at a 45° angle
of elevation, y would be 36 feet due to the isosceles triangle created.
Because he is looking up at a greater angle, it is reasonable that y is greater
than 36 feet. Adding 6 feet accounts for the fact that his eyes are 6 feet from
the ground.

Example 2: An observer on the ground looks up to the top of a building at an

angle of elevation of 30°. After moving 50 feet closer, the angle of elevation
is now 40°. Consider the diagram.
a) Set up an equation representing the situation from the first vantage
point. Your equation will incorporate the 30° angle, x, y, and the 50 feet.

b) Set up an equation representing the situation from the second vantage

point. Your equation will incorporate the 40°, x, and y.

c) You now have two equations in two variables. Solve them simultaneously
to determine the value of x, the distance from the second vantage point to
the base of the building.

d) Solve for y, the height of the building.

Solution:
                                                                                                                                                                                       
(Retrieved from: www.MathWorksheetsGo.com)
Example 3: Find the height of the building

Tan60°=x/d
1.73= x/7.76 ft.
x= 1.73 (7.76) 
x= 13.42 ft
Height of post= x+h

H of post= 13.42 ft.+5.38 ft. Height of post= 18.8 ft.

Example 4:
At 57" from the base of a building you need to look up at 55° to see the top of
a building. What is the height of the building? 

tan(55°)= opposite/hypotenuse
tan(55°) = height/57 
height = 57 × tan(55°) 
height= 57 (1.43)

height = 81" 

Solved Examples on Angle of Depression

Example 1: An airplane is flying at a height of 2 miles above the level

ground. The angle of depression from the plane to the foot of a tree is 15°.
Find the distance that the air plane must fly to be directly above the tree.

Solution:

Step 1: Visualize the situation

Step 2: Let ‘x’ be the distance the airplane must fly to be directly above the
tree.

 
Step 3: The level ground and the horizontal are parallel, so the alternate
interior angles are equal in measure.
Step 6: So, the airplane must fly about 7.46 miles to be directly above the
tree.

                                                                                                                                    (Retrieved from:
http://www.icoachmath.com/math_dictionary/angle_of_depression.html)

Example 2:

A person stands at the window of a building so that his eyes are 12.6 m
above the level ground in the vicinity of the building. An object is 58.5 m
away from the building on a line directly beneath the person. Compute the
angle of depression of the person’s line of sight to the object on the ground. 

Solution: The angle of depression of the line of sight is the angle, θ, that the
line of sight makes with the horizontal, as shown in the figure to the right.
Since the ground is level, it is parallel to any horizontal line, and so the
angle that the line of sight makes with the ground is equal to θ as well. As a
result, we have 

tanθ= 12.6/58.5

θ= tan-1 (12.6/58.5)

θ= tan-1 (0.22)

θ= 12.40°
                                                                                                                                                    (Source: David W. Sabo,
2003 Angle of Elevation/Angle of Depression Page 2)
Example 3: What is the height of the tree on the left? 

Tan(16°)= opposite/hypotenuse

tan(16°)= 14/height 
height = 14/tan(16°)

height= 14/0.29

height= 48 " 

Year 10 Interactive Maths - Second Edition

Angles of Elevation and Depression

The angle of elevation of an object as seen by an observer is the angle between the horizontal and the
line from the object to the observer's eye (the line of sight).
If the object is below the level of the observer, then the angle between the horizontal and the
observer's line of sight is called theangle of depression.

Example 21

From the top of a vertical cliff 40 m high, the angle of depression of an object that is level with
the base of the cliff is 34º.  How far is the object from the base of the cliff?

Solution:

Let x m be the distance of the object from the base of the cliff.
So, the object is 59.30 m from the base of the cliff.

Key Terms

angle of elevation, angle of depression

Trigonometry/Angles of Elevation and Depression
< Trigonometry
Suppose you are an observer at O and there is an object Q, not in the same horizontal plane. Let OP be a
horizontal line such that O, P and Q are in a vertical plane. Then if Q is above O, the angle QOP is
the angle of elevation of Q observed from P, and if Q is below O, the angle QOP is the angle of
depression.

Often when using angle of elevation and depression we ignore the height of the person, and measure the
angle from some convenient 'ground level'.

Exercise 1: Opposite, Hypotenuse, Adjacent

Look at the diagram above.

  is a right angle. What would you give as the translation of the labels into English?
Example 1: A Flagpole

From a point 10m from the base of a flag pole, its top has an angle of elevation of 50º. Find the height of the pole.

[diagram]

If the height is h, then h⁄10 = tan(50º). Thus h = 10 tan(50º) = 11.92m (to two decimal places).

Example 2: A 15m High Flagpole

A flag pole is known to be 15m high. From what distance will its top have an angle of elevation of 50º?

[diagram]

If the distance is d, then 15⁄d = tan(50º). Thus d = 15⁄tan(50º) = 12.59m (to two decimal places).
Example 3: A 20m Tower

From the foot of a tower 20m high, the top of a flagpole has an angle of elevation of 30º. From the top of the tower, it has a
distance from the tower.

Let the height of the flagpole be h and its distance be d. Then

(i) h⁄d = tan(30º).

The top of the flagpole is below the top of the tower, since it has an angle of depression as viewed from the top of the t

(ii) (20-h)⁄d = tan(25º).

Adding these two equations, we find

(iii) 20⁄d = tan(30º) + tan(25º).

From this (how?) we find d = 19.16m and h = 11.06m (both to two decimal places).

Example 4: Yet another Flagpole

From a certain spot, the top of a flagpole has an angle of elevation of 30º. Move 10m in a straight line towards the flagpole.
flagpole and its distance from the second point.

[diagram]

Let the height be h and its distance from the second point be x. Then

cot(50º) = x⁄h; cot(30º) = (x+10)⁄h

Subtracting the first expression from the second,

cot(30º)-cot(50º) = 10⁄h so
h = 10⁄(cot(30º)-cot(50º)) = 11.20 metres
x = hcot(50º) = 9.40 metres.