Work with a classmate to make a clinometer and use it to measure the height of something on your school grounds.
Worked example 1 A squirrel is sitting on the forest fl oor and looks up at an acorn, A, at the top of a tree.
If it looks up at an angle of 26 ° and the tree is 15 m tall, how far is the squirrel from the base of the tree, to the nearest metre? Note: We can assume the tree is vertical and the ground is horizontal.
Solution A opp 15 m hyp 26° adj S
Worked example 2
A man standing on a cliff sees a boat at an angle of depression of 36 ° . If the cliff is 65 m high, how far from the cliff is the boat? Give your answer correct to one decimal place. Note: We can assume the cliff is vertical and the water is horizontal.
Solution 36°
65 m adj
90 – 36 = 54°
hyp
opp x The angle of depression is outside the triangle. To fi nd the angle inside, subtract it from 90 ° .