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I. Related topics
Trigonometric ratios
II. Concepts and Ideas
Angles of elevation or inclination are angles above the horizontal, like looking up from
ground level toward the top of a flagpole. Angles of depression or declination are angles below
the horizontal, like looking down from your window to the base of the building in the next lot.
Whenever you have one of these angles, you should immediately start picturing how a right
triangle will fit into the description.
The angle of elevation of an object as seen by an observer is the angle between the
horizontal and the line from the object to the observer's eye (the line of sight).
If the object is below the level of the observer, then the angle between the horizontal and
the observer's line of sight is called the angle of depression.
To minimize round-off error, I'll use all the digits from my calculator in my computations,
and try to "carry" the computations in my calculator the whole way.
If you have the length of the given side, you can find the total height, using the angle that
measures the elevation from the bottom to the peak of the given object vice versa.
I
f the object is below the level of the
observer, then the angle between the
horizontal and the observer's line of sight is
called the angle of depression.