Angles of elevation and

depression
 i g ht
s
e of
d lin
in e
cl
In

α
Horizontal line of sight
Angle of elevation
• The angle measured upwards from the horizontal to an object
OR
• The angle formed by a person’s horizontal line of sight and his
inclined line of sight
 Horizontal line of sight

De
clin
ed
line
o f si
ght
Angle of depression
• The angle measured downwards from the horizontal to an object
OR
• The angle formed by a person’s horizontal line of sight and his
declined line of sight
 Horizontal line of sight

α and β form
alternate angles

α α=β
Horizontal line of sight
Ex 11f pg 595
1. A child of height 1 m is standing in front of a tree of height 30 m. Find
the angle of elevation to be made by the child’s eyes so as to look at
the topmost point of the tree, if the child is standing at a distance of 5
m from the tree.
80.2 deg

2. Find the angle of elevation of the sun when a flagpole that is 24 m tall
casts a shadow that is 9 m long.
69.4 deg
3. The height of an observer is h meters. He stands on a horizontal ground
at a distance √3h metres from a vertical wall of height 4h metres. Find
the angle of elevation of the top of the wall as seen by the observer.
60 deg
4. Jason is on top of a 40 m cliff. He observes a boat 800m away from
the base of the cliff. Find the angle of depression from Jason to the
boat.
3 deg
5. An observer sees the top of the tree from a tower which is 200 feet
tall and the distance from the tower and the tree is 100 feet. What
is the angle of depression formed?
63.4 deg