ANGLES OF

ELEVATION &
DEPRESSION
Use a calculator to find tan
54°.
A. 0.6738

B. 0.7432

C. 0.8090

D. 1.3764
Find mB to the nearest tenth of a
degree if cos B = 0.8926 and B is
an acute angle.
A. 63.2

B. 26.8

C. 18.4

D. 0.999
Find x. Round to the nearest
tenth.
A. 14.1

B. 17.4

C. 19.4

D. 21.3
Find x. Round to the nearest
tenth.
A. 9.5

B. 15.9

C. 23.7

D. 30.8
Find x. Round to the nearest
tenth.
A. 34.7

B. 43.8

C. 46.2

D. 52.5
Use a special right triangle to express sin 45°
as a fraction.

A.

B.

C.

D.
You will

Solve problems involving angles

of elevation and angles of
depression.
GLEANS
ANGLES
NIOTELVEA
ELEVATION
REVRESOB
OBSERVER
NILE
LINE
GHTIS
SIGHT
 LIST
Object that is Five object Five object
at the exact that are taller that are
height as your than you shorter than
eyes you
 Vocabulary
OBSERVER- someone who sees or watches
something
LINE OF SIGHT- Is an imaginary line that
connects the eye of an observer to the object
being observed.
ANGLE OF ELEVATION- Is the angle from the
horizontal to the line of sight of the observer to
the object above.
ANGLE OF DEPRESSION- Is the angle from the
horizontal to the line of sight of the
observer to the object below.
An angle of elevation is the angle formed by
a horizontal line and a line of sight to a point
above the line. In the diagram, 1 is the angle
of elevation from the tower T to the plane P.
An angle of depression is the angle formed
by a horizontal line and a line of sight to a
point below the line. 2 is the angle of
depression from the plane to the tower.
Since horizontal lines are parallel, 1  2
by the Alternate Interior Angles Theorem.
Therefore the angle of elevation from one
point is congruent to the angle of
depression from the other point.
 ANGLES OF ELEVATION
AND DEPRESSION

Normal Line of Sight (horizontal)

D

A is the angle of elevation of

the
B is ansun
angle of depression
C is an angle of elevation
D is an angle of depression

C Normal Line of Sight (horizontal)

B

A
Classify each angle as an
angle of elevation or an angle
of depression.
1
1 is formed by a horizontal line and a line of sight to a
point below the line. It is an angle of depression.

4
4 is formed by a horizontal line and a line of sight to
a point above the line. It is an angle of elevation.
2
2 is formed by a horizontal line and a line of sight to
a point above the line. It is an angle of elevation.
Use the diagram above to
classify each angle as an
angle of elevation or angle
of depression.

5
5 is formed by a horizontal line and a line of
sight to a point below the line. It is an angle of
depression.
6

6 is formed by a horizontal line and a line of sight to a

point above the line. It is an angle of elevation.
 ∠FL ∠RT
S W

∠TW
∠LS S
T

∠DC
B
∠AB ∠WZ
C P
∠ZP
R
The Seattle Space Needle casts a 67-meter shadow.
If the angle of elevation from the tip of the shadow
to the top of the Space Needle is 70º, how tall is the
Space Needle? Round to the nearest meter.B
𝑦
tan 70 °=
67

y =67 tan 70 ° y

𝒚 ≈ 𝟏𝟖𝟒 𝒎
70
A o
67
m
Maria is at the top of a cliff and sees a seal in the
water. If the cliff is 40 feet above the water and the
angle of depression is 52°, what is the horizontal
distance from the seal to the cliff, to the nearest
foot?
40
tan 52° =
𝑥
40
𝑥¿
tan 52 °
A plane is at an altitude of 3500 feet and the
angle of elevation from the airport to the plane is
29°. What is the horizontal distance between the
plane and the airport? Round to the nearest foot.

3500
tan 29° =
𝑥

3500
𝑥¿
tan 29 ° 3500 ft

29°

𝒙 ≈ 𝟔𝟑𝟏𝟒 𝒇𝒕.
An ice climber stands at the edge of a crevasse that is 115
ft. wide. The angle of depression from the edge where she
stands to the bottom of the opposite side is 52º. How deep
is the crevasse at this point? Round to the nearest foot.
Draw a sketch to represent the given information.
Let C represent the ice climber and let B represent
the bottom of the opposite side of the crevasse. Let
y be the depth of the crevasse.

𝑦
tan 52° =
115

𝑦 ¿ (115) tan52 °

𝒚 ≈ 𝟏𝟒𝟕 𝒇𝒕 .
Vernon is on the top deck of a cruise ship and observes
two dolphins following each other directly away from the
ship in a straight line. Vernon’s position is 154 meters
above sea level, and the angles of depression to the two
dolphins are 35° and 36°. Find the distance between the
two dolphins to the nearest meter.

219.93 – 211.96 = 7.97

m
A ranger sees another fire and the angle of depression to
the fire is 3°. What is the horizontal distance to this fire?
Round to the nearest foot.
3°

90
tan 3 °=
𝑥
90
𝑥=
tan 3 °
𝒙 ≈ 𝟏𝟕𝟏𝟕 𝒇𝒕 .
An observer in a lighthouse is 69 ft above the
water. He sights two boats in the water directly in
front of him. The angle of depression to the nearest
boat is 48º. The angle of depression to the other
boat is 22º. What is the distance between the two
boats? Round to the nearest foot.
69 69
tan 48 ° = y¿ ≈
tan 48 °
62.1 𝑓𝑡
𝑦
69
tan 22° =
𝑧
69
z¿ 𝑓𝑡
tan 22≈
° 170.8
𝟏𝟕𝟎. 𝟖 −𝟔𝟐 . 𝟏 ≈ 𝟏𝟎𝟗 𝒇𝒕
At a diving competition, a 6-foot-tall diver stands atop the
32-foot platform. The front edge of the platform projects 5
feet beyond the ends of the pool. The pool itself is 50 feet
in length. A camera is set up at the opposite end of the pool
even with the pool’s edge. If the camera is angled so that
its line of sight extends to the top of the diver’s head, what
is the camera’s angle of elevation to the nearest degree?

A. 37°
B. 35°
C. 40°
D. 50°
Luisa is in a hot air balloon 30 feet above the
ground. She sees the landing spot at an angle of
depression of 34. What is the horizontal
distance between the hot air balloon and the
landing spot to the nearest foot?
A. 19 ft

B. 20 ft

C. 44 ft

D. 58 ft
Madison looks out her second-floor window, which is 15
feet above the ground. She observes two parked cars. One
car is parked along the curb directly in front of her window
and the other car is parked directly across the street from
the first car. The angles of depression of Madison’s line of
sight to the cars are 17° and 31°. Find the distance
between the two cars to the nearest foot.

A. 14 ft
B. 24 ft
C. 37 ft
D. 49 ft
Activity 5: Illustrate and Solve!
Look for a partner, then illustrate and solve the following
problems. Use the template below.
Problems:
1.A 12-meter high post casts a 19-meter shadow. Find the
angle of elevation to the sun.
2.The angle of elevation from a boat to the top of a 92-meter
hill is 12°. How far is the boat from the base of the hill?
3.From the top of the control tower 250 m tall, an airplane is
sighted on the ground below. If the airplane is 170 m from
the base of the tower, find the angle of depression of the
airplane from the top of the control tower.
4.From the top of a cliff 280 meters high, the angle of
depression of a boat is 25°. How far from the base of the
cliff is the boat?
5.From an airplane at an altitude of 1200 m, the angle of
depression to a rock on the ground measures 28°. Find the
horizontal distance from the plane to the rock.