A surveyor is standing 550 feet from the base of a redwood tree in the California Redwood Forest. The tree is 362 feet tall. Sketch a drawing that models the situation and then find the angle of elevation of the top of the tree from the spot where the surveyor is standing.

Model the situation as a right triangle: the tree’s height is the opposite side (362 feet), and the surveyor’s distance from its base is the adjacent side (550 feet). Thus, tan(θ) = 362/550, so θ = arctan(362/550) ≈ 33.4°. The best answer is 33.4° (choice B).

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