Question

1. A 6-foot-tall man is standing 50 feet from a flagpole. When he looks at the top of the flagpole, the angle of elevation is 39o. Find the height of the flagpole to the nearest foot.

Answer 1

quick sketch of the situation

Answer 2

let's let the height of the whole flagpole be x

then this part here is x - 6, since it's just the height of the flagpole (x) minus the height of the man (6 feeet)



now, if you just look at the top triangle, you have the opposite, and adjacent sides, along with the angle

set up the appropriate trig ratio and solve for x