Lesson Notes

Name: _____________________________ Class: ________ Date: ____________

Angles of Elevation and Depression

Instructions
These lesson notes complement ACE-Learnings video lessons.
Use them as an aid as you study this topic independently.
Here are some suggestions on the use of these notes:
1. Print out the notes.
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Contents

Section Page

Angle of Elevation and Depression 2

Angle of Elevation 6

Example 1.1 7

Example 1.2 8

Example 1.3 9

Example 1.4 10

Angle of Depression 11

Example 2.1 13

Example 2.2 14

Example 2.3 15

Self-Reflection 17

ACE-Learning 1
Lesson Notes

Angle of Elevation and Depression

A civil engineer, Alex, stands on top of an incomplete sky tower. He looks straight ahead.
From horizontal, he looks up and spots a helicopter.

His line of sight is "_____________" above the horizontal to the helicopter. This angle

between the elevated line of sight and the horizontal is known as the

_______________________________________. We can use this angle to make indirect

measurements, e.g. the _____________ of a _____________, the height of a _____________,

etc.

He then lowers his vision and spots a lorry.

His line of sight is said to be "_____________" below the horizontal to the lorry.

This angle between the depressed line of sight and the __________________________ is

known as the _______________________________________. We can use this angle to make

indirect measurements, e.g. the height of a cliff _____________ sea level, the _____________

of a valley, etc.

An instrument called the _____________ is often used to measure the angles of elevation

and depression.

ACE-Learning 2
Lesson Notes

Three civil engineers are conducting an on-site inspection of an incomplete sky tower.
Engineer Alex is on top of the tower while Bryan and Cain are on either side of it.
First, Bryan is supposed to measure the height of the tower.
Then, Alex is supposed to measure the distance between the foot of the tower and Cain.

Bryan measures the distance between his standpoint and the foot of the tower.
He uses the theodolite to find the angle of elevation from his standpoint.

When the line of sight is _______________________________________, the angle between

them is the _______________________________________.

ACE-Learning 3
Lesson Notes

In ABT , we have the values of the angle of elevation AB T and the adjacent side BT.
We are able to find the opposite side, AT, using the tangent ratio.

AT
tan 60
BT
AT
tan 60
10
AT 10(tan 60)

AT m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

Hence, Alex is standing 17.32 m above the ground level.

Alex uses the theodolite to find the angle of depression from his standpoint.

When the line of sight is _______________________________________, the angle between

them is the _______________________________________.

Note that the angle of depression from Alex equals angle of elevation from Cain.

In ACT , we have the values of the angle of elevation AC T and the adjacent side AT.
We are able to find the adjacent side, CT, using the tangent ratio.

AT

CT
17.32
tan 40
CT
17.32
CT
tan 40
CT 20.64 m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

Hence, Cain is standing m away from the foot of the tower.

ACE-Learning 4
Lesson Notes

Put on your thinking cap!

If we factor in the height of Alex and Bryan up to their eye level, which are 1.8 m and
1.7 m respectively, what is the height of the tower and the distance between
the tower and Cain?

Solution:

In ADF ,
AF
tan 60
10
AF 10(tan 60)
AF 17.32 m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

Hence, the height of the building is + = 19.02 m.

In CET ,

tan 40
CT
20.82
CT
tan 40
CT 24.81 m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

Hence, the distance between the tower and Cain is 24.81 m.

ACE-Learning 5
Lesson Notes

Angle of Elevation
When a person looks at something above his or her eye level, the angle between the line of

sight and the horizontal is called the angle of _____________. In this case, a man looks at

the top of an antenna which is located on top of a building.

Notice that the line of sight is "_____________" above the horizontal. We can use this angle

to make indirect measurements, e.g. the height of building, mountain, tree, etc

An instrument called the theodolite is often used to measure the angles of elevation.

With the use of trigonometric ratios, the height of the triangle can be found.

If AB = 40 m and = 20.6, find BC.

opp
tan
adj
BC
tan
AB
BC
tan 20.6
40

BC

BC 15 m

ACE-Learning 6
Lesson Notes

Example 1.1

A tower is 30 m high and a 34 m shadow is cast as shown.

Find the angle of elevation of its top from the tip of the shadow.

Solution:

Let the angle of elevation be .

Since we have the values of the adjacent and opposite sides, we will use the tangent ratio.

opp
tan
adj
30

34

15

17
15
tan 1
17

(Correct to 1 decimal place)

The angle of elevation is 41.4.

ACE-Learning 7
Lesson Notes

Example 1.2

A girls eyes are 1.7 m above the ground. At a distance of 27.5 m from a tree, the angle of
elevation of the top of the tree is 31. How tall is the tree?

Solution:

Since we have the value of the adjacent side and we are to find the opposite side,
we will use the tangent ratio.

In PQR ,
opp
tan
adj

PR 27.5 tan 31
16.52 m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

Height of the tree = PR + Height of R above ground level

= 16.52 +

= 18.22 m

ACE-Learning 8
Lesson Notes

Example 1.3

A plane is flying at an altitude of 10 000 meters directly above a person. 12 seconds later,
the angle of elevation is 75, find the speed of the plane per second.

Solution:

Distance covered by the plane in 12 seconds length of AB

Note that the angle of elevation is always between the line of sight and the horizontal.

So, AP B is not the angle of elevation.

AP is perpendicular to the horizontal,

AP B 90 75
15

Since we have the value of the adjacent side and we are to find the opposite side, we will use
the tangent ratio.

In ABP ,
opp
tan
adj
AB
tan15
10 000

AB

Distance
Speed
Time
10 000 tan 15 m

12 s

m/s (Correct to 2 decimal places)

Hence, the speed of the plane is 223.29 m/s.

ACE-Learning 9
Lesson Notes

Example 1.4

A radio transmitter antenna of height 2 m stands at the top of the hill. From a fixed point
on the ground, the angle of elevation of the bottom of the antenna is 48 and that of the
top of the antenna is 69. Find the height of the hill.

Solution:

Let P be the fixed point on the ground, AB be the height of hill, PB be the distance between the
hill and fixed point and C be the top of the antenna.

In PBA ,
AB
tan 48
PB

PB

In PBC ,
AB 2
tan 69
PB

PB

Eliminating PB from the 2 equations,

AB 2 AB

tan 69 tan 48
AB tan 69 ( AB 2) tan 48
AB tan 48 2 tan 48
AB tan 69 AB tan 48 2 tan 48
AB(tan 69 tan 48) 2 tan 48

AB

AB 1.49 m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

ACE-Learning 10
Lesson Notes

Angle of Depression
When a person looks at something below his or her eye level, the angle between the line of

sight and the horizontal is called the angle of __________________________. In this case,

a surveyor, who stands at the edge of a cliff, views a buoy in the sea through a theodolite.

We can use this angle to make indirect measurements, e.g. the height of a cliff above sea
level, the depth of a valley, etc

A right-angled triangle is formed when a _______________________________________ is

drawn from the buoy to the __________________________.

Hence, the height of the triangle can be found with the use of trigonometric ratios.

ACE-Learning 11
Lesson Notes

If AB = 60 m and = 36.9, find BC.

Since the adjacent side and reference angle are known and were finding the opposite side,
well use the tangent ratio.

opp
tan
adj

tan

BC
tan 36.9
60
BC 60 tan 36.9
BC 45.05 m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

ACE-Learning 12
Lesson Notes

Example 2.1

From the top of a building, a construction worker finds that there is a 30 angle of
depression to the head of his 1.8 m tall supervisor. If the supervisor is 45 m from the
building, how tall is the building?

Solution:

Note that the angle of depression is always between the line of sight and the horizontal.

So BA C is not the angle of depression.

Since the horizontal is parallel to BC, then AC B and the angle of depression would be
alternate angles.

AC B OA C 30 (Alternate angles)

Since we have the value of the adjacent side and we are to find the opposite side, so well use
the tangent ratio.

In ABC ,
opp
tan
adj

AB

45
AB 45 tan 30

The height of the building = AB + height of the supervisor

45 tan 30 1.8
27.78 m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

ACE-Learning 13
Lesson Notes

Example 2.2

A person, 1.5 m tall, stands on top of a building. He measures the angle of depression of a
stationary car which is 59 m from the building and found that it is 65. Find the height of
the building.

Solution:

Note that the angle of depression is always between the line of sight and the horizontal.

So CA D is not the angle of depression.

Since the horizontal, AO, is parallel to CD, then AD C and OA D would be alternate angles.

AD C OA D 65 (Alternate angles)

In ACD , we have the value of the adjacent side and we are to find the opposite side,
so well use the tangent ratio.

In ACD ,
opp
tan
adj
AC
tan 65
59

AC

The height of the building = AC height of the person

59 tan 65

m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

ACE-Learning 14
Lesson Notes

Example 2.3

From the top of a 60 m high tower, the angles of depression of the top and foot of a
building are observed to be 30 and 60 respectively. Find the height of the building and
the distance between the tower and the building.

Solution:

Note that the angle of depression is always between the line of sight and the horizontal.

So AP C and BP Q are not the angles of depression.

Since the horizontal, OP, is parallel to AC, then PA C and OP A are

_______________________________________.

The horizontal OP is also parallel to BQ, so PB Q and OP B are also alternate angles.

PA C OP A ______ (Alternate angles)

PB Q OP B ______ (Alternate angles)

In PQB and PCA , we have the values of the opposite sides and we are to find the
adjacent sides, so well use the tangent ratio.

In PQB ,
60
tan 60
BQ

BQ

34.641

AC BQ 34.64 m (Correct to 2 decimal places)

ACE-Learning 15
Lesson Notes

In PCA ,
60
tan 30 PC
tan 60
60 tan 30
PC
tan 60

The height of the building = height of the tower PC

60 20
40 m

Hence, the height of the building is m and the distance between the tower and the

building is 34.65 m.

ACE-Learning 16
Lesson Notes

Self-Reflection
What I have learnt:

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ACE-Learning 17