Two walls of a canyon form the sides of a steady flowing river. From a point on the shorter wall, the angle of elevation to the top of the opposing wall is 20° and the angle of depression to the bottom of the opposing wall is 45°. From the same point, the diagonal distance to the bottom of the opposing wall is 230 feet. Using the appropriate right triangle solving strategies, solve for:
1. the height of the short wall (x)
2. the height of the tall wall (y)
3. the distance between the canyon walls (z)

Question

Two walls of a canyon form the sides of a steady flowing river. From a point on the shorter wall, the angle of elevation to the top of the opposing wall is 20° and the angle of depression to the bottom of the opposing wall is 45°. From the same point, the diagonal distance to the bottom of the opposing wall is 230 feet. Using the appropriate right triangle solving strategies, solve for:
1.	the height of the short wall (x)
2.	the height of the tall wall (y)
3.	the distance between the canyon walls (z)

jacob902 · Answer

because of the 45º angle , the height of the short wall and the distance between the walls is the same 

1. x = 230' / cos(45º) 

2. y = x + [z * tan(20º)] 

3. z = x

anonymous · Answer

i tried that it was wrong

dumbcow · Answer

is there any more info given?

i dont see how it is possible to find height of shorter wall (x) because all info is relative to the fixed point on the shorter wall.