CHAPTER

10 Angles of Elevation and Depression

10.1 Angles of Elevation and Angles of Depression

Example
B A

The diagram shows a boy, a bird and a agpole. The boy and the bird are looking at the top of the agpole. Identify (a) two horizontal lines, (b) an angle of elevation, (c) an angle of depression. Solution: (a) The horizontal lines are ED and AB. (b) An angle of elevation is CDE. (c) An angle of depression is ABC. The diagram shows Aminah standing on the balcony of her house. She looks at the moon and then at the lamppost. Identify (a) the horizontal lines, (b) an angle of elevation, (c) an angle of depression. (a) PQ, SR and TU (b) SRQ (c) SRT

1.

S T

2.

The diagram shows John at the edge of a cliff while Mazrin is in a boat at the sea. State (a) two horizontal lines, (b) an angle of elevation, (c) an angle of depression. (a) PQ and SR (b) SRQ (c) PQR

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3.
B O

The diagram shows Salleh on the balcony of his house. He looks at the helicopter and then at the car. State (a) a horizontal line, (b) an angle of elevation, (c) an angle of depression. (a) AO (b) BOA (c) AOC

A C

4.
Q

P S R

The diagram shows a lamp-post and a agpole on a level ground. State (a) two horizontal lines, (b) an angle of elevation, (c) an angle of depression.

5m

(a) PQ and RS (b) SRQ (c) PQR

CCTS Recognising & representing

Example
A guard is at the top of a watchtower. He is looking at a car on the road. The angle of depression of the car is 20. Represent this situation using a diagram. Solution:
guard horizontal line

car watchtower

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5.

Represent the following situations with diagrams. (b) Two points P and Q are 8 m apart on level ground. Somas is looking at the two points from the edge of a cliff. The angles of depression of Q and P are 20 and 30 respectively.
Somas 20
12 m 10 m 15 m

(a) Two poles are 15 m apart on level ground. Their heights are 10 m and 12 m respectively. The angle of elevation from the top of the shorter pole to the top of the taller pole is 8.
Angle of elevation 8

30

cliff

8m

(c) A boy is standing on a bridge. He is looking down at a boat moving down the river. The angle of depression of the boat is 40.

(d) A hunter is shooting at an eagle ying above him. The angle of elevation of the eagle is 42.

40

42 angle of elevation

CCTS Solving problems

Example
The diagram shows a boy and a agpole on a level ground, which are 12 m apart. The height of the boys eyes are 1.7 m above the ground. If the angle of elevation from the eyes of the boy to the top of the pole is 45, nd the height of the pole.
1.7 m

12 m

Common mistake Height = 12 m

x tan 45 = 12 x = 12 tan 45 = 12 1 = 12 m Height of the pole = 12 + 1.7 = 13.7 m

x 45 12 m 12 m

1.7 m

1.7 m

6.
60

Mark 1.9 m

The diagram shows the positions of Mark and Andy. The angle of depression of Andy from Mark is 60. Find the height of the cliff. x tan 60 = 500
x 57 500 m

cliff Andy

500 m

x = 500 tan 60 = 500 1.732 = 866 m

Height of the cliff = 866 1.9 = 864.1 m

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7.
SPM

2004 2001

The diagram shows two vertical poles on a level ground. The angle of depression of point B from point A is 40. Find the height, in m, of the pole AC.
B 14 m

x
C 22 m D

22 m

x tan 40 = 22 x = 22 tan 40 = 22 0.839 = 18.46 m

Height of pole AC = 18.46 + 14 = 32.46 m

8.
SPM

2002 2001

The diagram shows three points P, Q and R on a horizontal ground. A vertical ag pole stands at point R. The angle of elevation of S from P is 30. Find the height of the pole SR, in m. PR tan 50 = 8 PR = 8 tan 50 P = 9.534 m
S

P 8m 50 Q R

9.534 m

SR tan 30 = PR SR = 9.534 SR = 9.534 tan 30 = 5.504 m

9.
K 17 m 8m M

The diagram shows three points K, L and M on a horizontal ground. A vertical pole VL stands at point L. The angle of depression of M from V is 55. Find the height of the pole, in m. ML2 = 172 82 = 289 64 = 225 ML = 15 m
V

15 m

tan 55 = VL 15 VL = 15 tan 55 = 21.42 m

10.

The diagram shows a boy on top of a building. Points S, P and Q lie on a straight line. The angle of depression of point P from R is 40 and the angle of depression of point Q from R is 30. Find the distance of PQ.

50 m

R 40 50 m S

RS tan 40 = SP RS SP = tan 40 50 = 40 0.839 P = 59.59 m

R 30 50 m 30 S Q

50 tan 30 = SQ 50 SQ = tan 30 50 = 0.5774 = 86.59 m PQ = 86.59 59.59 = 27 m

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SPM Practice 10
Paper 1 1. P
SPM

2004 2001

M S

The diagram shows two points S and R on a Q horizontal ground. PS and QR are two vertical poles. State the angle of R depression of point Q from point P. A LPQ B MQR C PSR D QRS

Questions 5 to 7 are based on the diagram below.

10 m A B C

15 m D

The diagram shows a building on a horizontal ground. ABCD is a straight line on the horizontal ground. The angle of elevation of F from A is 65.

5.

2.
SPM

2005 2001

60 m P A 100 m

The diagram shows two poles AD and BC on a horizontal plane. APB is a straight line. The angle of C elevation of C from point 40 m P is 40. Find the angle of depression of point P B from D. A 40 B 14 27 C 35 21 D 48 54 The diagram shows two vertical poles on a horizontal plane. B is a point on AC, such that AB = DE. The angle of depression of D from C is A ADC C BDC B EBD D DCB

Find the height of the building, in m. C 21.45 A 2.14 B 2.74 D 46.4 Find the angle of depression of D from E. C 55 A 70 B 56.3 D 27.5 If the length of AD is 45 m, nd the width of the building, in m. A 15 C 25 B 10 D 20

6.

7.

8.

3.
2006 2001
SPM

C B A E D

1.61 m 500 m

The diagram shows a hunter and a bird. The angle of elevation of the bird from the eyes of the hunter is 24. How high, in m, is the bird ying above the ground? A 221 C 222.61 D 224.22 B 222 9.
52 m 1.8 m

4.

50 m S

In the diagram, S and R are on horizontal ground and P PR is a vertical pole. The angles of elevation of P Q and Q from S are 50 and 40 respectively. Find the length of PQ, in m. A 17.63 R B 41.95 C 59.59 D 101.54 145

The diagram shows a policeman and a fugitive. The angle of depression of the fugitives head from the policemans is 35. Find the horizontal distance between the wall and the fugitive, in m. A 74.3 C 36.4 B 71.7 D 35.2

10.

Find the height of the eagle above the ground, in m, at that instant. A 312.4 C 800.16 B 314.4 D 802.16
C

3.7 m A

14.
B

The diagram shows points A, B, C on a horizontal ground. CD is a vertical agpole. The angles of elevation of D from A and B are 38 and 25 respectively. Find the length of BC, in m. C 6.2 A 16.24 B 10.16 D 5.7 11.

2m 250 m

1.8 m 40 m

The diagram shows a boy looking at the top of a tree. The angle of elevation of the trees top from the boys eyes is 28. Find the height of the tree, in m. C 23.06 A 48.78 B 35.32 D 21.27 12.
5m R

The diagram shows a sherman looking up at a light house. Given that the angle of elevation of the top of the light house from the shermans eyes is 6.84. Find the height of the light house above the sea level, in m. A 32.0 B 39.7 C 248 D 2 084 15.
SPM

2004 2001

50 m

30 m

P1

P2

The diagram shows a man looking at two cars at positions P1 and P2. The angle of depression of P1 from R is 5.7 and the distance between P1 and P2 is 25 m. Find the angle of depression of P2 from R. A 3.8 C 78.7 B 11.3 D 86.2 13.

In the diagram, KL and NM are two vertical poles on a horizontal ground. The angle of depression of the peak K from the peak N is 53.1. Calculate the height of KL, in m. A 40 C 18 D 10 B 32 16.
2007 2001
SPM

20 m

2m 500 m

The diagram shows an eagle swooping down at a prey resting on a rock. At that instant, the angle of depression of the prey from the eagle is 32. 146

In the diagram, KL and MN are two vertical poles on a horizontal ground. The height of KL is twice the height of MN. The angle of depression of N from L is 58. Find the height, in m, of KL. A 12.5 C 32 B 25 D 64

17.
SPM

2002 2001

Questions 18 and 19 are based on the diagram below. Q

8m

The diagram shows points H, J and K on a horizontal ground. A lamp-post is erected at J. The angle of depression of K from L is 27. Calculate the height of the lamp-post, in m. A 7.72 B 8.66 C 15.14 D 33.36

The diagram shows a right-angled triangle PRS on a horizontal ground. A vertical pole is standing at P. The angle of depression of R from Q is 78.2. 18. Calculate the height of PQ, in m. C 23.9 A 1.02 B 4.89 D 30.4 19. Calculate the angle of depression of S from Q. A 63.3 C 30.8 B 59.1 D 26.6

Paper 2 1.
25 m A B C

2.

150 m

10 m

In the diagram, points A, B, C and D are on a horizontal ground. A vertical agpole EB is at B. The angle of depression of C from E is 40 and the angle of depression of D from E is 30. Find the length, in m, of (a) BC (b) BD (c) AC

A guard is looking at a car at P on a horizontal road from the top of a tower. The angle of depression of the car from the guard is 33. Ten seconds later the car is at Q. Find (a) the height of the tower, (b) the angle of depression of point Q from the guard. (a) Height of tower = 150 tan 33 = 97.41 m (b) Let the angle of depression be . 97.41 tan = 160 = 31.3

(a) tan 40 = EB BC BC = 29.79 m (b) tan 30 = EB BD BD = 43.3 m

(c) AC = 43.3 + 29.79 = 73.09 m

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3.

Maria

Height of Maria = 1.7 m

4.
A

C 80 m
100 m Susan

130

The diagram shows Maria standing on a spring board above the water while Susan is swimming in the pool. The angle of depression of Susan from Maria is 10. Find the height of the spring board above the water. Height of the spring board tan 10 = x 100 = 17.6 m 1.7 m x = 100 tan 10 = 15.9 m = 17.6 m

The diagram shows a point D vertically above a point C on the horizontal ground. A, B and C are on a horizontal plane. (a) Find the length of AC. (b) Given that the angle of elevation of D from A is 88, nd the height of CD. (a) AC = 80 sin 50 = 61.3 m (b) DC = AC tan 88 = 1 755.4 m

5.

6.
50 m
S

cliff

P 6m 8m R Q

In the diagram, points P, Q and R are on a horizontal ground. PT and QS are two vertical poles. The angle of elevation of point S from R is 27 and the angle of elevation of point T from R is 59. Find (a) the height of SQ, (b) the height of TP, (c) the angle of elevation of T from S. (a) SQ = 8 tan 27 = 4.07 m (b) PT = 6 tan 59 = 9.99 m (c) PQ = 10 m tan = 9.99 4.07 10 = 30.6

The diagram shows two shermen on boat A and boat B. A boy C is at the edge of the cliff. The angle of elevation of C from A is 78 and the angle of elevation of C from B is 50. Find the (a) horizontal distance between A and the cliff, (b) horizontal distance between B and the cliff, (c) horizontal distance between A and B. (a) Horizontal distance = 50 tan 78 = 10.62 m (b) Horizontal distance = 50 tan 50 = 41.95 m (c) AB = 41.95 10.62 = 31.33 m

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