Precalculus (6th Edition) Blitzer

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 0-13446-914-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-13446-914-0

Chapter 6 - Section 6.5 - Complex Numbers in Polar Form; DeMoivre's Theorem - Exercise Set - Page 769: 113

Answer

The approximate height of the tower is $135\text{ feet}$.

Work Step by Step

Let the height of the tower be $a$. The tangent function should be applied to determine the height of the tower, $\begin{align} & \tan \theta =\frac{\text{height of tower}}{\text{distance between base of tower and point of observation}} \\ & \tan 48.3{}^\circ =\frac{a}{120} \\ & a=120\tan 48.3{}^\circ \end{align}$ Substitute the value of $\tan 48.3{}^\circ $ in the above equation $\begin{align} & a=134.6850 \\ & a\approx 135 \\ \end{align}$
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