the pont du gard near Nimes,france, is a roman aqueduct.an observer in a hot air balloon some distance away from the aqueduct determines that the angle of depression to each end is 54 degrees and 71 degrees,respectively.the horizontal distance between the balloon and the closest end of the aqueduct is 270.0m. calculate the length of the aqueduct to the nearest tenth of a metre

1 answer

No, trig :)
Draw a sketch, h is height of balloon over bridge
tan 71 h/270
so
h = 270 tan 71 = 784
then
tan 54 = h/x where x is hor dist to other end from balloon
x = h/tan 54 = 570
so total length = 270 + 570 = 840 meters