Question

At an altitude of 2000 feet, Ace is flying toward a mountain (a vertical rock face). If the angle of elevation from the plane to the top of the mountain is 20o and the angle of depression to the base of the mountain is 6o, then how high is the mountain (to the nearest foot)? Type only the numerical value.

I have no idea how to even start this question. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Answer 1

2000 ft down the mountain is the 6º angle

so his distance to the mountain is
... d = 2000 ft / tan(6º)

the mountain above 2000 ft is
... h = d * tan(20º) = 2000 * tan(20º) / tan(6º)