NCERT Class X Chapter 9: Some Application Of Trigonometry Exercise 9.1 Question 6

NCERT Class X Chapter 9: Some Applications of Trigonometry

Question:

A 1.5 m tall boy is standing at some distance from a 30 m tall building. The angle of elevation from his eyes to the top of the building increases from 30° to 60° as he walks towards the building. Find the distance he walked towards the building.

Given:

  • Height of the boy = 1.5 m
  • Height of the building = 30 m
  • Initial angle of elevation = 30°
  • Final angle of elevation = 60°

To Find:

The distance the boy walked towards the building.

Formula:

\[ \tan \theta = \frac{\text{Opposite side}}{\text{Adjacent side}} \]

Solution:

Step 1: Let the initial distance from the boy to the building be \( x \) metres, and the final distance be \( y \) metres. The effective height from the boy's eyes to the top of the building is:

\[ \text{Effective height} = 30\,\text{m} - 1.5\,\text{m} = 28.5\,\text{m} \]

Step 2: Using the tangent ratio for the initial position (angle of elevation \( 30^\circ \)):

\[ \tan 30^\circ = \frac{28.5}{x} \] \[ x = \frac{28.5}{\tan 30^\circ} \]

Step 3: Using the tangent ratio for the final position (angle of elevation \( 60^\circ \)):

\[ \tan 60^\circ = \frac{28.5}{y} \] \[ y = \frac{28.5}{\tan 60^\circ} \]

Step 4: Substitute the values of \( \tan 30^\circ = \frac{1}{\sqrt{3}} \) and \( \tan 60^\circ = \sqrt{3} \):

\[ x = \frac{28.5}{\frac{1}{\sqrt{3}}} = 28.5 \times \sqrt{3} \] \[ y = \frac{28.5}{\sqrt{3}} \]

Step 5: Calculate the values:

\[ x = 28.5 \times 1.732 \approx 49.32\,\text{m} \] \[ y = \frac{28.5}{1.732} \approx 16.46\,\text{m} \]

Step 6: The distance walked towards the building is:

\[ x - y = 49.32\,\text{m} - 16.46\,\text{m} = 32.86\,\text{m} \]

Result:

The distance the boy walked towards the building is approximately \( 32.9 \) metres.

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