Clara stands 400 feet from the base of the Washington Monument and looks at the top. The angle of elevation is 54°. Clara’s eyes are 5 feet off the ground. Based on this, how tall is the Washington Monument? Remember to find the height of the MONUMENT, not just of the TRIANGLE.

Question

(1 point)

406.4 feet

401.4 feet

555.5 feet

550.5 feet

Answer 1

Using the tangent function, we can calculate the height of the Washington Monument:

tan(54°) = h / 400 ft
h = 400 ft * tan(54°)
h = 400 ft * 1.3764
h = 550.56 ft

Since Clara's eyes are 5 feet off the ground, we add this to the height of the Washington Monument to get the total height:

550.56 ft + 5 ft = 555.56 ft

Therefore, the height of the Washington Monument is approximately 555.56 feet.

So the closest answer choice is 555.5 feet.