A surveyor is standing 550 feet from the base of a redwood tree in the California Redwood Forest. The tree is 362 feet tall. Sketch a drawing that models the situation and then find the angle of elevation of the top of the tree from the spot where the surveyor is standing.

Question

anonymous · Answer

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That's what I came up with and my answer is 33.4 degrees, am I right?

anonymous · Answer

$$\tan^{-1}(362/550)=0.582105$$ 
$$0.582105\times(180/\pi)=33.3522$$

anonymous · Answer

@ZeHanz Does that look right to you?

zehanz · Answer

Fine! I set my calculator to degrees first, so I didn't have to do the second step...

anonymous · Answer

I would but I can't figure out how to do it on the Ti-nspire :(

zehanz · Answer

I've got one as well.
Make a new document, choose 2:Add Graphs, then press menu.
In the menu, press 9: Settings...
Now you can set the units for angles.