Real Life Examples of Trigonometry

A 10 ft. tree creates a shadow that is 15 ft. long. Find the angle of elevation of the sun. 

• 34 degrees
• 56 degrees
• 72 degrees
• 15 degrees

A 13 ft. ladder is leaning against the house. The top of the ladder touches the house at 10 feet above the ground. How far away is the bottom of the ladder from the house?

• 10 feet
• 7.5 feet
• 8.3 feet
• 3.8 feet

A 30 ft. wire stretches from the top of a light pole diagonally to the ground. The light pole is 10 feet high. What is the angle the wire makes with the ground?

• 66 degrees
• 80 degrees
• 30 degrees
• 19 degrees

Sally is flying a kite at an angle of 41 degrees. If the kite is 10 feet up in the air, how long is the kite string? 

• 6.6 feet
• 10.3 feet
• 15.2 feet
• 20 feet

Jake is 6 ft. tall. He is standing outside when the angle of elevation of the sun is 28 degrees. How long would his shadow be? 

• 5.3 feet
• 2.8 feet
• 3.2 feet
• 11.3 feet

A plane takes off at an angle of 30 degrees and reaches a height of 10 miles.  What is the diagonal distance it has traveled from take off to it's current position?

• 15 miles
• 38 miles
• 17 miles
• 20 miles

A power line stretches from the top of a building to the ground. The power line is 100 ft. long and the building is 50 ft. tall. What is the horizontal distance from the end of the power line to the building? 

• 220.3 ft. 
• 100 ft.
• 86.6 ft. 
• 73.8 ft. 

You are standing 10 feet away from a tree. There is a cat up in the tree. Your eyes make a 48 degree angle to look up at the cat. How high is the cat? 

• 11.1 ft. 
• 9 ft. 
• 7.4 ft. 
• 13.8 ft. 

A 4 ft tall child creates a shadow that is 7.5 ft long. What is the angle of elevation of the sun? 

• 62 degrees
• 49 degrees
• 28 degrees
• 15 degrees

A ladder is leaning against a house at an angle of 39 degrees. If the ladder is 12 ft. long, how far is the bottom of the ladder from the house? 

• 15.4 ft.
• 9.3 ft.
• 20.2 ft. 
• 5.3 ft.