7. Building A is 480 feet tall and Building B is 654 feet tall. If the angle of depression from the top of Building B to the top of Building A is \( 42^{\circ} \), how far apart are the bulldings?
Real Tutor Solution
Answer
Solution
Reviewed and approved by the UpStudy tutoring team
Bonus Knowledge
To find the distance between the buildings, we can use some trigonometry! The angle of depression from Building B to Building A is \(42^{\circ}\). First, we find the vertical distance between the tops of the buildings by subtracting the height of Building A from the height of Building B: \[ 654 - 480 = 174 \text{ feet} \] Next, using the tangent of the angle, we can relate the height difference (opposite side) to the distance between the buildings (adjacent side): \[ \tan(42^{\circ}) = \frac{174}{d} \] Solving for \(d\): \[ d = \frac{174}{\tan(42^{\circ})} \approx \frac{174}{0.9004} \approx 193.6 \text{ feet} \] Therefore, the buildings are approximately \(193.6\) feet apart! Want to visualize that? Imagine standing at the top of Building B and looking down at Building A. You'd see quite the view, and just a short distance to cover! Isn’t trigonometry a neat way to connect height and distance?