1. Two observers, 1.6 miles apart, observe a ballon over a line directly between them.

At a
given time, their measures of elevation to the balloon are 38.4° and 43.4° respectively. What
is the height of the balloon to the nearest foot?

We have two right triangles. The

larger angle is closer to ballon.

We must find the height of baloon

h.

Then,

h
tan  38.4  
1.6  x
h
tan  43.4  
x

if we compute tan 34.8 and

tan 43.4 we have

tan  38.4   0.79

tan  43.4   0.95

Since, substituting we have two equations:

h
0.79  Eq. 1
1.6  x
h
0.95  Eq.  2 
x

now we solve the equations:

0.79 1.6  x   h Eq. (1)

0.95 x  h Eq. (2)
We equate equation Eq.(1) and Eq.(2) and we solve for x:

0.79 1.6  x   0.95 x

1.26  0.79 x  0.95 x
1.26  0.95 x  0.79 x
1.26  0.16 x
1.26
x  7.88
0.16

Finally now we can find the height h substituting in Eq.(2):

h  0.95 x
h   0.95  7.88  7.48125
h  7.48125

Therefore, the height of baloon is:

7.48125 miles or 39501 ft.

2. A surveyor on a mountain road 524 feet above a lake was asked to calculate the distance
across the lake. The surveyor measured the angles of depression to the near and far edges of
the lake to be 66° and 27° respectively. Determine the distance across the lake to the nearest
foot.

We have two right triangles. We must find the distance across the lake. Then,

524
tan  27  
dx
524
tan  66  
x

if we compute tan 27 and tan 66 we have:

tan  27   0.51

tan  66   2.25

Since, substituting we have two equations:

 524
0.51  Eq 1
dx
524
2.25  Eq  2 
x

now we have the equations:

0.51 d  x   524  0.51d  0.51x  524 Eq 1

2.25 x  524 Eq  2 

solve for x in Eq (2):

524
x  232.88
2.25

substituting x=232.88 in Eq (1):

0.51d  0.51x  524

0.51d  0.51 232.88  524
0.51d  118.77  524
0.51d  524  118.77
0.51d  405.23
405.23
d  794.5
0.51

Therefore, the distance across the lake is: 794 ft

3. The angle of depression from a television tower to a point on the ground 36.0 feet from
the bottom of the tower is 29.5°. Find the height of the tower. Round to the nearest tenth of
a foot.

In this case we have one right triangle

h
tan  29.5  
36
 h  36  tan  29.5 
h  36  0.57  20.37 ft

Therefore, the height of the tower is h  20.37 ft

4. Find the exact values of each variable.

In this case we have two right triangles.

In the 60° triangle we have to

7
sin  60  
a
7 7
a   8.08
sin  60  0.866

In the 45° triangle we have to

a
tan  45  
n
a 8.08
n   8.08
tan  45  1

to find q we can use the Pythagorean theorem

q  a 2  n2
q 8.08  8.08  11.42
2 2

a  8.08
Therefore, we have: n  8.08
q  11.42