Question

A building 200 feet tall casts an 80 ft long shadow. If a person looks down from the top of the building which of the following is the measure of the angle between the end of the shadow and the vertical side of the building to the nearest degree? I understand that you would have to solve for Tan since your givens are 200 (Opposite) and 40 (Adjacent) so your Tan would be 2.5 but I'm confused as to what I should do next? Can someone help me and list all the steps out?

Answer 1

you are correct so far. Of course, you have not provided any choices for selection, but the equation you need is

tanθ = 200/80
θ = tan^-1 2.5 ≈ 68°

Answer 2

it's 22°