A woman standing on a hill sees a flagpole that she knows is 40 ft tall. the angle of depression to the bottom of the pole is 14°, and the angle of elevation to the top of the pole is 18°. find her distance x from the pole.

Respuesta :

let distance form the pole = x  and height of the hill = y ft

now we can set up 2 equayions 
tan 18 = (40-y)/x
tan 14 = y/x

from second equation y = sxtan14  so we have:-
 tan 18  = ( 40 - x tan 14) /  x

x tan 18 = 40 - x tan 14
x(tan 18 + tan 14) = 40

x   = 40 / (tan18 + tan 14)  =  69.66 feet Answer