Name(s)______________________________________________________________________
Pre-Calculus Honors
Problem Set #3.2
1. The Leaning Tower of Pisa was originally 184.5 feet high. At a distance of 123 feet from
the base of the tower, the angle of elevation to the top of the tower is found to be 60°.
Find ∠ RPQ indicated in the figure. Also, find the perpendicular distance from R to PQ.
2. A cruise ship travels from Barbados, West Indies, to San Juan, Puerto Rico, a distance of
600 nautical miles. On the return trip, the captain must take a detour to avoid a tropical
storm. The captain heads out of San Juan in a direction of 20° off a direct heading to
Barbados. After some time the path to Barbados becomes clear of storms so the captain
turns at an angle of 40º toward Barbados.
How much further did the cruise ship travel
on the return trip?
3. Find the length of the ski lift from point P to point Q.
4. The distance from home plate to dead center field at Wrigley Field in Chicago is 400ft. If
an outfielder catches a ball right in from of the center field fence, how far would he need
to throw it to reach third base ?
5. In soccer, the angle of view represents the span of the angle created as a player is
looking at the entire width of the goal. The angle of view is largest as the player is
in the center of the field. If the goal posts are 5m apart and the player (positioned at
point A) is 19m from one post and 21 meters from the other, how large is the angle
of view?
6. A golfer drives a golf ball 320 yards. If the pin was 340 yards away and his shot was
17º to the left of the target, how far will he be from the pin on his second shot? Draw
a diagram and then show your work to get the solution.
7. Two scuba divers are 20m apart below the surface of the water. They both spot a
shark that is below them. The angle of depression from diver 1 to the shark is 47°
and the angle of depression from diver 2 to the shark is 40°. How far are each of the
divers from the shark?
8. According to Little League softball official regulations, the diamond is a square 60
feet on a side. The pitching rubber is located 46 feet from home plate on a line
joining home plate and second base.
a. How far is it from the pitching rubber to first base?
b. How far is it from the pitching rubber to second base?
c. If a pitcher faces home plate, through what angle does she need to turn to reach
1st base?
9. Mr. Hawkins is walking his dog along a straight path. His dog sees a squirrel and
pulls him at an angle of 35º with the path. After pulling for 450 meters, Lucy (my
dog) forgets that she was chasing something. They turn through an angle of 75º
back toward the path. How far will they have to walk on their current path to make
it back to the original path?
10. Suppose you lived on the 5th floor of a tall apartment building. You don’t know
anyone else in your building, but you have two friends in the building across the
street. One of you friends lives way up top near the top floor, and the other lives
down near the bottom floor approximately 100 feet apart from each other. Their
apartments face yours so that when you look out the window and they look out the
window you can wave and see each other. The three of you, feeling socially isolated,
decide to order a set of walkie-talkies so that you can communicate. The range of the
walkie-talkies is advertised as “more than 100 feet” so your friends will be able to
communicate with each other – but you aren’t sure if you’ll be able to join in the fun.
So, you create a makeshift clinometer and measure the angle of elevation to your
lofty friend as 56 degrees and the angle of depression to your other friend as 23
degrees. So? Will you be able to join in the conversation?
