Answer: the height of the flagpole is 21 ft
Step-by-step explanation:
Since the angle of elevation to the top of the flagpole is 40°, a right angle triangle is formed. The height of the flagpole represents the opposite side of the right angle triangle. Your distance from the base of the flagpole represents the adjacent side of the right angle triangle. Therefore, to determine the height of the flagpole, x ,we would apply the tangent trigonometric ratio which is expressed as
Tan θ = opposite side/adjacent side
Tan 40 = x/25
x = 25tan40 = 25 × 0.8391
x = 20.98
x = 21.0 ft to the nearest tenth.
