Question

http://prntscr.com/an0h5g

Why can't cosine or sin be used to solve this?

Answer 1

because you aren't given the hypotenuse of that triangle

Answer 2

you are given the adjacent of the angle given and asked to find the opposite
well this is one step
the next step is just finding a difference

Answer 3

there are only two trig ratios you could use cot and tan
since both of them includes opposite and adjacent in the ratios

Answer 4

I'm just confused because like couldn't I find the hypotenuse with sine and cosine to find the hypotenuse?

And then wouldn't the hypotenuse be my answer?

Answer 5

no the hyp will not be your answer
you are looking for the height of the short building not the distance from one front right roof top corner to another front left roof top

you could use the Pythagorean theorem to find the opposite measurement of the angle x after finding the hyp using cos

Answer 6

but that adds in an extra step

Answer 7

they are looking for this length