The angle of depression of a boat from the top of a cliff 40m high is 60m. Calculate the distance of the boat from the foot of the cliff

1 answer

Let the distance of the boat from the foot of the cliff be x.

Using trigonometry, we know that:

tan 60° = opposite / adjacent

where opposite = 40m (height of the cliff) and adjacent = x (distance of boat from foot of cliff).

tan 60° = 1.732 (rounded to 3 decimal places)

1.732 = 40 / x

x = 40 / 1.732

x ≈ 23.094

Therefore, the boat is approximately 23.094 meters away from the foot of the cliff.