# Thread: Find side of right triangle

1. ## Find side of right triangle

Hi, Can someone please help?? could you possibly explain step by step how to solve. I have no idea how to solve this....
there are about 5 of these problems, this is only an example of one.

the directions are: A photographer points a camera at a window in a nearby building forming an angle of 40 degrees with the camera platform. If the camera is 53 meters from the building, how high above the platform is the window? round to two decimals.

the drawing under the problem is like this:
Attachment 4434
(next to the 53 is an m for meters)

we are currently learning about trig. functions/graphs in class, so you'll probably have to use that to find the answer.

2. x / 53 = tan(40) ---> x = 53*tan(40) = 44.47 m

just learn the definitions of the functions: sin, cos, tan....

3. Originally Posted by overduex
Hi, Can someone please help?? could you possibly explain step by step how to solve. I have no idea how to solve this....
there are about 5 of these problems, this is only an example of one.

the directions are: A photographer points a camera at a window in a nearby building forming an angle of 40 degrees with the camera platform. If the camera is 53 meters from the building, how high above the platform is the window? round to two decimals.

the drawing under the problem is like this:
Attachment 4434
(next to the 53 is an m for meters)

we are currently learning about trig. functions/graphs in class, so you'll probably have to use that to find the answer.

In an Triangle, The longest side is the Hypotenuse, The opposite side to the angle is the Opposite and the Side next to the angle is the Adjacent.

In Trigonometry, the rules are:

$sinx = \frac {Opp}{Hyp}$,
$cosx = \frac {Adj}{Hyp}$,
$tanx = \frac {Opp}{Adj}$.

As we have the Adjacent and we are looking for the Opposite angle, we use Tan.

$tanx = \frac {Opp}{Adj}$
$tan40 = \frac {x}{53}$
$(53)(tan40)= x$
$x=44.47m$

4. Originally Posted by overduex
Hi, Can someone please help?? could you possibly explain step by step how to solve. I have no idea how to solve this....
there are about 5 of these problems, this is only an example of one.

the directions are: A photographer points a camera at a window in a nearby building forming an angle of 40 degrees with the camera platform. If the camera is 53 meters from the building, how high above the platform is the window? round to two decimals.

the drawing under the problem is like this:
Attachment 4434
(next to the 53 is an m for meters)

we are currently learning about trig. functions/graphs in class, so you'll probably have to use that to find the answer.