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Umpalumpa
Jun 24, 2008, 10:00 AM
Having quiet a hard time with this trig stuff. REALLY CONFUSING!
Here's a question I've been trying to figure out for an hour:
John and Sally want to emasure the height of a chimney. They locate two points on the ground, A and B, that are 120 m apart in the same plane as the chimney. The angles of elevation to the top of the chimney are 21(degrees) from the point A and 33(degrees) from point B. I have to find the height of the chimney - to the nearest metre

galactus
Jun 24, 2008, 10:57 AM
Again, did you draw a picture?

Look at the diagram. You need y given the distance between A and B is 120

The distance from A to the chimney is 120+x.

The distance from B to the chimney is x.

Using the tangent law, we have xtan(33)=y

And tan(21)=\frac{y}{120+x}

Solve the two equations.

Greek2Me
Oct 15, 2009, 09:23 AM
Check out these articles for a simple tool and tutorial that will make trig simple enough for ANYBODY to do!

How to Pass That Trigonometry Exam (Without Losing Your MIND!) Part I - Unknown Sides | eHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/how_5227490_pass-mind-part-unknown-sides.html)

How to Pass That Trigonometry Exam (Without Losing Your MIND!) Part II - Unknown Angles | eHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/how_5428511_pass-part-ii-unknown-angles.html)