Question:
A tower stands vertically on the ground. From a point on the ground which is 20 m away from the foot of the tower, the angle of elevation of its top is found to be 60°. Find the height of the tower.
Solution:
Let
We now have:
$O A=20 m, \angle O A B=90^{\circ}$ and $\angle A O B=60^{\circ}$
Let:
$A B=h \mathrm{~m}$
Now, in the right $\Delta O A B$, we have:
$\frac{A B}{O A}=\tan 60^{\circ}=\sqrt{3}$
$\Rightarrow \frac{h}{20}=\sqrt{3}$
$\Rightarrow h=20 \sqrt{3}=(20 \times 1.732)=34.64$
Hence, the height of the pole is 34.64 m.