Ch 9 – Applications of Trigonometry 2019

1. The angle of elevation of a jet plane from a point on the ground is 60o. After a flight of 15
seconds, the angle of elevation changes to 30o. If the plane is flying at a constant height of
1500√3 m, find its speed
2. The pilot of an aircraft flying horizontally at a speed of 1200 kmph observes that the angles of
depression of a point on the ground changes from 30o to 45o in 15 seconds. What is the height at
which the aeroplane is flying?
3. An aeroplane when 3000 m high, passes vertically above another aeroplane, when the angles of
elevation of both planes from the same point on the ground are 60o and 45o respectively. Find the
vertical distance between the two planes.
4. From the window of a house (h metres above ground level), the angles of elevation and
depression of the top and foot of another house on the opposite side of the street are ‘θ’ and ‘φ’
respectively. Show that the height of the other house is: h(1 + tan θ.cot φ)
5. A man on the deck of a ship 12 m above the water surface observes the angle of elevation of the
top of a cliff to be 45o, and the angle of depression of the base of the cliff to be 30o. What is the
height of the cliff and its distance from the ship?
6. From the top of a tower, the angles of depression of two objects on the ground, on the same side
of the tower are found to be ‘α’ and ‘β’ (α > β). If the distance between the objects is ‘p’ m, show
that the height of the tower is (p tan α. tan β)/(tan α – tan β)
7. The tangent of the angle of elevation of the top of a lighthouse from a point on the ground is
found to be 5/12. On walking 240 metres towards the lighthouse along a straight line from its
foot, the tangent of the angle of elevation now changes to ¾. What is the height of the lighthouse?
8. The tangent of the angle of elevation of the top of a lighthouse from a point on the ground is
found to be ¾. On walking 192 metres away from the lighthouse along a straight line from its
foot, the tangent of the angle of elevation now changes to 5/12. What is the height of the
lighthouse?
9. The angle of elevation of a cloud from a point ‘h’ m above the surface of a lake is found to be ‘α’
and angle of depression of the reflection of the cloud in the lake is found to be ‘β’. Show that (i)
the height of the cloud above the lake is: h (tan β + tan α)/(tan β – tan α) and (ii) the distance of
the cloud from the point of observation is: 2h sec α/(tan β – tan α)
10. The angles of elevation of the top of a tower from two points A and B at distances of ‘a’ and ‘b’
respectively from the base, and in a straight line with it are found to be complementary. Prove
that the height of the tower is √(ab)
11. From a building 60 m high, the angles of depression of the top and bottom of a lamp-post are
found to be 30o and 60o respectively. Find the distance between the building and the lamp-post
and the difference in the height between the building and the lamp-post.
12. A man on the top of a vertical tower observes a car moving towards the tower along a straight
road. If it takes 12 minutes for the angle of depression to change from 30o to 45o, how soon after
this will the car reach the foot of the tower?
13. A boy standing on the ground observes a bird flying 100 m away to be at an elevation of 30o. A
girl standing on a 20 m tall building finds the angle of elevation of the bird at the same instant to
be 45o. The girl and boy are on opposite sides of the bird. Find the distance of the bird from the
girl and the distance between the two buildings.
14. From an aeroplane flying vertically above a straight highway the angles of depression of two
consecutive kilometre stones, on opposite sides of the aeroplane, are found to be ‘α’ and ‘β’
respectively. ST the height of the aeroplane above the ground is: tan α tan β / (tan α + tan β)
What would be the height of the aeroplane (in metres) above the ground if the angles of
depression were found to be 30o and 45o?
15. A path separates two walls. A ladder, resting at a point on the path and leaning against one wall,
reaches a height of 9 m on the wall and makes an angle of 30o with it. While resting at the same

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 Ch 9 – Applications of Trigonometry 2019
point, if it were made to lean against the other wall, it would make an angle of 45o with the wall.
Find the height it reaches on the second wall, and the width of the path between the walls.
16. At the foot of a mountain, the angle of elevation of its summit is 45o. After ascending 1000
metres along a slope of inclination 30o towards the summit, it is found that the angle of elevation
of the summit is now 60o. Find the height of the mountain.
17. Two poles are ‘k’ metres apart and the height of one is double that of the other. If from the mid-
point of the straight line joining their feet, an observer find the angles of elevation of their tops to
be complementary, then find the height of the shorter pole.
18. The angle of elevation of a cloud from a point 120 m above the surface of a lake is 30o and the
angle of depression of its reflection from the same point is 60o. Find the height of the lake above
the lake surface.
19. A ladder rests against a wall at an angle of ‘α’ to the horizontal. Its foot is pulled away from the
wall through a distance ‘a’, so that it slides a distance ‘b’ down the wall, now making an angle of
‘β’ with the horizontal. Show that a/b = (cos α – cos β)/(sin β – sin α)
20. A spherical balloon of radius ‘a’ units subtends an angle ‘θ’ at a point on the ground, which the
angle of elevation of its centre from the same point on the ground is ‘φ’. PT: the height of the
centre of the balloon above the ground is given by : a sin φ cosec θ/2
21. Two boats approach a lighthouse in mid-sea from diametrically opposite directions. The angles of
depression of the two boats from the top of the lighthouse are 30o and 45o. If the distance between
the boats is 100m, what is the height of the lighthouse
22. Two men, standing along a straight line with the base of a 75 m high temple, observe the angles
of the elevation of the top of temple to be 30o and 60o. What is the distance between the two men
if they are a) on the same side of the temple? b) on opposite sides of the temple?
23. PQ is a pole of given height ‘a’ units and AB is a tower some distance away. ‘α’ and ‘β’ are the
angles of elevation of the top of the tower A, at P and Q respectively (α > β). Find the height of
the tower and its distance from the post.
24. A tree of a certain height falls over in a storm, such that the trunk is broken 5 metres above the
ground. If the top of the tree makes an angle of 30o with the ground, find the original height of the
tree and the distance of the top of the tree where it touches the ground to its foot
25. A tree of height 4(2 + √3) m, falls over in a storm, such that the broken part makes an angle of
30o with the trunk. Find how far above the ground does the tree break and what is the distance of
the top of the tree where it touches the ground to its foot.
26. The angle of elevation of the top of a vertical tower from a point ‘X’ on the ground is found to be
60o. From a point 40 m vertically above ‘X’, the angle of elevation of the top of the tower is
found to be 45o. Find the height of the tower and distance between the foot of the tower and the
point ‘X’.
27. The tops of two towers of heights ‘x’ and ‘y’, standing on level ground, subtend angles of 30o &
60o respectively at centre of the line joining their feet. Find x : y
28. The shadow of a tower standing on level ground is found to be 40 m longer when the sun’s
altitude is 30o, than when it is 60o. Find the height of the tower.
29. A bird is sitting on a tree at a height of 80 m. From a point on the ground, the angle of elevation
of the bird is 45o. The bird flies away horizontally in such a way that it remains at a constant
distance above the ground. After 2 seconds, the angle of elevation of the bird from the same point
is 30o. Find the speed at which the bird is flying. (√3 = 1.732)
30. An observer standing at the top of a 150 m tall cliff observes the angle of depression of a boat
changing from 60o to 45o in 2 minutes, as it moves away from the cliff, along a straight line from
its foot. Find the speed of the boat in m/s. (√3 = 1.732)

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