Angles of elevation and depression

If a person stands and looks up at an object, the angle of elevation is the

angle between the horizontal line of sight and the object.

Object

Angle of elevation

----------------------------------------- Horizontal

If a person stands and looks down at an object, the angle of depression is

the angle between the horizontal line of sight and the object.

---------------------------------------------- Horizontal

Angle of depression

Object

Trigonometry can be used to solve problems that use an angle

of elevation or depression (always use the ratios).
EXAMPLE

1. We know the height of the cliff, 60 m.

2. We know the angle of depression 12o
3. We are looking for the distance between the cliff and the house (the adjacent)

60

tan120 =_______

tan120 x X = 60 (we always multiply the numenator of the first fraction with the
denominator of the other fraction)

60

x = ________ (divide both sides by tan12)

tan12

x = 282 m.

WE FOLLOW THE SAME STEPS WITH THE ANGLES OF ELEVATION