Question

A spotlight on the ground shines a beam of light to the top of a tree that is 12 m tall. The beam of light makes an angle of 40° with the ground.



What is the distance from the spotlight to the base of the tree, rounded to the nearest meter?

Responses

10 m
10 m

14 m
14 m

16 m
16 m

19 m

Answer 1

Let the horizontal distance be x. Then tan(40°) = opposite/adjacent = 12/x, so x = 12 / tan(40°) ≈ 12 / 0.8391 ≈ 14.31 m. Rounded to the nearest meter: 14 m.