Answer:
236.9 m
Step-by-step explanation:
Let x and y represent the distances to the near and far cars, respectively. You know from the definition of the tangent of an angle that ...
tan(angle of depression) = building height/distance to car
tan(10°39') = 150/x
x = 150/tan(10°39')
and
tan(8°15') = 150/y
y = 150/tan(8°15')
The difference of these two distances is the distance between the cars:
y - x = 150/tan(8°15') -150/tan(10°39')
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The minutes of arc can be converted to fractional degrees:
15' = 15'/(60'/1°) = (15/60)° = 0.25°
39' = 39'/(60'/1°) = (39/60)° = (13/20)° = 0.65°
So, the distance of interest is ...
distance between cars = (150 m)(1/tan(8.25°) -1/tan(10.65°)) ≈ 236.86 m
The cars are about 236.9 meters apart.
