1

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

 2

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

• INTRODUCTION:
• The questions based on height &
distance are based on the following
factors:
• The angle of elevation or depression.
• One of the side out of height and
distance.
 3

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

• Generally the angle of elevation or

depression which are coming in
different examinations are based on
300, 450, & 600.
 4

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

• When the angle of elevation or depression

is 300 or 600:
• Take the side infront of 300 as 1 part.
• Take the side infront of 600 as 3 parts.
• Take the side infront of 900 as 2 parts.
• By taking the ratio we can find the asking
one
 5

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

• When the angle of elevation or

depression is 450 :
• Take the side infront of 450 as 1/2
part.
• Take the side infront of 900 as 1part.
• By taking the ratio we can find the
asking one
 6

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

QUESTION:
A person standing on the bank of the
river observes that the angle
subtended by a tree on the opposite
bank is 60º.When he retires 100 m
from the bank he finds the tree to be
30º. Find the height of the tree and the
breadth of the river.
 7

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

• SOLUTION:
 8

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

• In ABC, the side opposite to 30º which is the

breadth of the river is 1 part
• Let i.e. x meter
• Then the side opposite to 60ºwhich is the height of
tree is 3 part = 3x
• Again in case of ABD the side opposite to 30º
which is the height of the tree as 1 part=3x And the
side opposite tom 60 which is 3parts=3x
• 3x=x+100
• Therefore x i.e. breadth of the river= 50 m
• And the height of the tree which is 3x=503m
 9

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

QUESTION:
An observer on the top of a cliff 200 m above
the sea level observes the angles of
depression of the two ships on opposite sides
of the cliff to be 45 and 30 respectively. Find
the distance between the ships if the line
joining them passes through the base of the
cliff.
 10

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

 11

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

Solution:
In ABD AD = BD
(as the corresponding angle 45)= 200 m
So AD = DC
Again in ADC the side opposite to 300 which is 1 part i.e. 200m
Therefore the side opposite to60 which is CD i.e. 3 parts =
2003 m
The distance between the two
ships= (200 + 2003) m
= 200(1+3) m
= 200(1+1.732) m
= 5464 m
 12

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

QUESTION:
A lizard is moving up a wall. From the foot of
the wall at a certain distance the angle of
elevation of dog’s eye with the lizard is
30.When the lizard reaches the top of the wall,
the dog is 15 m away from the wall and at this
point the angle of elevation of the dog’s eye
with the lizard is 60.During this time if the lizard
has covered 53 m of height, the dog has
covered how many meters of distance?
 13

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

 14

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

Solution:
Let initially the lizard is at a point E and latter it reaches at the
point A
initially the dog is at a point C and latter it reaches at the point
D
In ABD, BD is opposite to angle 300 which is 1 part is 15 m
So the side opposite to 60 which is AB i.e. 3 parts is 15 3m
Therefore BE = 103 m
Then in BCE, BE which is opposite to 30 i.e. 1 part is 103 m
The distance BC which is opposite to 60 i.e. 3 parts is 30 m.
The distance covered by the dog is CD = (30 -15) m
= 15 m
 15

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

QUESTION:
Two unequal poles are erected on either side of
the road of width 60 m .A man is standing at
the exact middle position at which the angle of
elevations are 30º and 60º respectively. Then
find the
a) height of the shorter pole
b) height of the longer pole
c) Distance between the topmost points of the
two poles
 16

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

 17

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

Solution:
(i) In case of ABC the side BC is opposite to the angle
60º which is 3 parts = 20 m
Therefore the height of the shorter pole i.e. AB opposite to the
angle 30º
which is 1 part = 30/3 = 103 m
(ii) In case of CDE, CD is opposite to the angle 30º which is 1
part = 30 m
The side opposite to the angle 30º which is 1 part = 30 m
Therefore the side i.e. DE the height of the longer pole is
opposite to 60º is 3 parts= 303m
 18

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

(iii) In case of ACE,ACE = 90º so it is a right

angled triangle.
In this case CE = opposite of angle of 90 0
From CDE i.e. 2 parts = 60 m
Similarly AC is opposite side of the angle of
900 from ABC i.e. 2 parts= 20 3 m
So the ratio between the side AC & CE = 1:3
and in this case 1 part = 203 m
Therefore the distance between the topmost
points of two poles AE which is opposite to
the angle of 90º is 2 parts = 403 m.
 19

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

QUESTION:
If the shadow of a tower is 30 m
when the sun’s altitude is 30º,
what is the length of the
shadow when the sun’s altitude
is 60º?
 20

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

 21

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

Solution:
In ABC, BC is opposite to the angle of 600
i.e. 3 parts = 30 m
The height of the tower AB is opposite to
the angle of 30º i.e.
1 part = 30/3 = 103m
In case of ABD,AB is opposite of 60º i.e. 3
parts= 103 m
So the length of shadow BD which is
opposite to 300 is 1 part = 10m
 22

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

QUESTION:
A man on the top of a vertical light
house observes a boat is coming
directly towards it. If it takes 10
minutes for the angle of depression
to change from 30º to 60º how soon
will it reach the light house?
 23

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

 24

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

Solution:
In ABC let the length of AB = x meter
AB is opposite to 30º i.e. 1 part = x meters
So BC is opposite to 60º
i.e. 3 parts = 3 x meters
Again in ABD AB opposite of 60º
which is 3 parts= x meters
BD which one is opposite to 30º
i.e. 1 part = x/3 m
CD= (3 x-x/3)m = 2 x/3 m
The ship covers 2 x/3 m in 10 minutes
 25

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

QUESTION:
A man in a boat being rowed away
from a cliff 120(3+1)m high takes
two minutes to change the angle of
elevation of the top of the cliff from
45º to 30º.Find the speed of the
boat in km/hr.
 26

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

 27

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

Solution:
In ABD AB = BD =120(3+1)m
Again in ABC AB is opposite
to 30º is 1 part = 120(3+1)
BC which is opposite to 60º is
3 parts= 3 [120(3+1)]
SO that DC=3 [120(3+1)]-120(3+1)
=240m
There fore speed of boat is 240/120=2m/s
Which one is 7.2km/h
 28

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

QUESTION:
From the top of a cliff150 m high, the angles
of depression of two boats which are due
north of the observer are 600 and 300.Find
the distance between them.
 29

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

 30

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

Solution:
In the ABC, the side opposite to 600 is 3 parts = 150
m
The side opposite to 300 which is 1 part = 150/3 =
503 m
Again in the ABD the side opposite to 300 is 1
part=150 m
So the side opposite to 600 i.e. BD = 3 parts which is
1503 m
DB=1503 m and BC = 503 m
Therefore the distance between the two ships is
BD – BC=1003 m
 31

HEIGHT & DISTANCE

THANKS