# Thread: A Right Triangle Word Problem

1. ## A Right Triangle Word Problem

first of al, i'm new here in this forum so i really, really expect that people here would help me overcome my weakness in trigonometry. so here's my question:

a tower & a monument stand on a level plane. the angle of depression of the top & bottom of the monument varied from the top of the tower are 13degrees & 31degrees respectively; the height of the tower is 145 ft. find the height of the monument.

pls make an illustration of this problem so that i could understand more how to solve this problem.

2. Could you please elaborate. I mean, explain alittle bit about what you mean when you say "top and bottom" and "varied". A pictures worth a thousand words. Do you have a drawing or plotting program on your pc?

3. this is the problem in my book and i do not have any illustrations of this problem.

this problem is so confusing,.

4. My guess is that the illustration would be like the attached pic. The left is the tower and the right is the monument.

Find the distance between the base of the tower and the base of the monument:
$\cot 31^{\circ} = \frac{d}{145}$
... and solve for d.

Then, draw another dotted line from the top of the monument to the line of sight and call it h (I forgot to include that in my diagram, sorry). Find this distance:
$\tan 13^{\circ} = \frac{h}{d}$
Plug in the d from earlier, and solve for h.

The height of the monument would then be 145 - h.

01

5. yes, this is the illustration that i really need. tnx dude.

case closed!

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by the way, the answer for this problem is 89.29 ft.