Two poles of equal heights are standing opposite to each other on either side of the road which is 80 m wide.
Two poles of equal heights are standing opposite to each other on either side of the road which is 80 m wide. From a point between them on the road, the angles of elevation of the top of the poles are 60° and 30°, respectively. Find the height of the poles and the distances of the point from the poles.
Let AB and CD be the towels & P is the point between them.
AB = h metres
CD = h metres
AP = x m
CP = (80 – x) m
Now, in right $\triangle \mathrm{APB}$, We have
$\frac{\mathbf{A B}}{\mathbf{A P}}=\tan 60^{\circ}$
$\frac{\mathbf{h}}{\mathbf{x}}=\sqrt{\mathbf{3}}$
$\Rightarrow \mathrm{h}=\mathrm{x} \sqrt{\mathbf{3}}$ ..(1)
Again in right $\Delta \mathrm{CPD}$, we have
$\frac{\text { CD }}{\text { CP }}=\tan 30^{\circ}$
$\Rightarrow \frac{h}{(80-x)}=\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}$
$\Rightarrow \mathrm{h}=\frac{\mathbf{8 0}-\mathbf{x}}{\sqrt{\mathbf{3}}}$ ...(2)
From (1) and (2), we get
$\sqrt{3} x=\frac{80-x}{\sqrt{3}}$
$\Rightarrow \sqrt{\mathbf{3}} \times \sqrt{\mathbf{3}} \times x=80-x$
$\Rightarrow 3 x=80-x$
$\Rightarrow 3 x+x=80=$
$4 x=80$
$x=\frac{80}{4}=20$
$\therefore \quad C P=80-x=80-20=60 \mathrm{~m}$
Now, from (1), we have
$h=\sqrt{\mathbf{3}} \times 20=1.732 \times 20=34.64$
Thus, the required point is 20 m away from the first pole and 60 m away from the second pole.
Height of each pole = 34.64 m.