Trigonometric Ratios?

Question

On a summer afternoon, a smokestack casts an 8-meter shadow. At this time of the day, rays from the sun are striking the ground at an angle of 75 degree. To the nearest tenth of a meter, how high is the smokestack ?

Answer 1

the angle between the sun and the ground is 75 degrees. The side opposite that in the triangle is the side you are looking for (x). The side adjacent to that is the side you know (8m). Use tangent to set up the equation. tan(75)=x/8. When you solve for x you get 29.9 m high.