Question

A wire from the top of the transmission tower at kyw forms a 60 degree angle with the ground at a 55 foot distance from the base of the tower. How tall is the tower?

Answer 1

To solve this problem, we can use trigonometric functions.

The height of the tower can be represented by the opposite side of the angle. The base of the tower can be represented by the adjacent side of the angle.

We can use the tangent function (tan) to find the height of the tower.

tan(60 degrees) = height/base

We are given the base as 55 feet, so we can rearrange the formula to solve for the height:

height = tan(60 degrees) * base

height = tan(60 degrees) * 55 feet

Using a calculator, the tangent of 60 degrees is approximately 1.732.

height = 1.732 * 55 feet

height ≈ 95.26 feet

Therefore, the height of the tower is approximately 95.26 feet.