from your apartment balcony, you look down and see two of your friends walking toward your apartment building. As you look East, you see Maria with a 60 degree angle of depression. As you look East, you also see jack with a 45 degree angle of depression. If your apartment balcony is 15 feet above the ground, then how far apart are maria and jack?

2 answers

m and j
tan 30 = m/15
tan 45 = 1 = j/15
j - 15 and m = 15 tan 30 = 8.66
m+j = 23.7
Jack's distance from the building ---- x
tan45 = 15/x ----> x = 15
for Maria:
tan 60 = 15/y
y = 15/tan60 = appr 8.66 ft

they are 15-8.66 or 6.34 ft apart