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Mathematics
Quarter 4 – Module 5
Use the Trigonometric Ratios in Solving Real-Life
Problems Involving Right Triangles

WINNIE D. FRANCISCO, Writer

Teacher III, Agno National High School
 What I Need to Know

This module will help you understand how to use the concepts on triangle
trigonometry in solving different real-life problems involving right triangle. The
different trigonometric ratios, angle of elevation, and angle of depression will
be used in this lesson since these are vital concepts which you must
understand to successfully solve right triangles.

The most essential learning competency aligned in this module is:

1. Use the trigonometric ratios in solving real-life problems involving
right triangle. (M9GE - IVe – 1)
Primarily, the scope of this module is to develop your skill in using
trigonometric ratios in solving real-life problems involving right triangles.
While going through this module, you are expected to:
1. Recall the different concepts of trigonometric ratios, angles of
elevation and depression;
2. Identify whether the given angles are angles of elevation or
depression;
3. Use the trigonometric ratios in solving real-life problems involving
right triangles;

What I Know

Let us find out how much you already know about this module. Choose the
letter that you think best answer the question. Take note of the items that you
were not able to answer correctly as you go through this module.

DIRECTION: Read and understand each item, then choose the letter of your
answer and write it on your answer sheet.

1. What is the measure of angle A in the right triangle below?

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a) 15° b) 25° c) 12° d) 90°

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 2. Find the value of x.

A) 7.6 ft. B) 10.6 ft. C) 15.3 ft. D) 7.9 ft.

3. Find the value of x.

A) 1134.3 m B) 1151.8 m C) 34.7 m D) 203.1 m

4. In the figure below, find cos .

A) 3/5 B) 4 / 5 C) 1 / 5 D) 2 / 5
5. Write the ratios for Sin A and Cos A.

A) Sin A = , cos A = C) Sin A = , cos A =

B) Sin A = , cos A = D) Sin A = , cos A =
6. Find the area of a square whose diagonals is 40 meters.
A) 80m2 B) 800m2 C) 1600 m2 D) 40 m2
7. In a right triangle, the measure of one of the angles is 49° and the
hypotenuse has a length of 50 cm. Which of the following is the nearest
approximation to the length, in cm, of the leg opposite to this angle?
A) 32.8 B) 57.5 C) 37.7 D) 30.3
8. Find the length of the missing side.

A) 28 B) 100 C) 10 D) 48
9. A triangle has side lengths 6, 8, and 10. Is it a right angle? Explain.
A) Yes; 62 + 82 102 C) No; 62 + 82 102
B) No; 6 + 8
2 2 102 D) Yes; 62 + 82 102

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10. A triangle has side lengths of 28 in, 4 in, and 31 in. What kind of triangle
is it?
A) Obtuse B) right C) acute D) none of the above
11. Viola drives 170 meters up a hill that makes an angle of 6° with the
horizontal. To the nearest tenth of a meter, what horizontal distance has she
covered?
A) 171.5 m B) 169.1 m C) 1617.4 m D) 17.8 m
12. What is the description of ∠2 as it relates to the situation shown?

A) ∠2 is the angle of elevation from the airplane to the radar tower.

B) ∠2 is the angle of depression from the radar tower to the airplane.
C) ∠2 is the angle of elevation from the radar tower to the airplane.
D) ∠2 is the angle of depression from the airplane to the radar tower.
13. Find the angle of elevation of the sun from the ground to the top of a tree
when a tree that is 10 yards tall casts a shadow 14 yards long. Round to the
nearest degree.
A) 54° B) 36° C) 46° D) 440
14. What is the value of the side x in the right triangle below?

A) 1 B) 9 C) 20 D) 3
15. To find the height of a pole, a surveyor moves 140 feet away from the base
of the pole and then, with a transit 4 feet tall, measures the angle of elevation
to the top of the pole to be 44°. To the nearest foot, what is the height of the
pole?
A) 145 ft B) 149 ft C) 135 ft D) 139 ft

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Lesson Use the Trigonometric
1 Ratios in Solving Real-
Life Problems Involving
Right Triangles

WHAT’S IN

Trigonometry is used on daily basis in the workplace. Since trigonometry

means “ triangle measure”, any profession that deals with measurement deals
with trigonometry as well. Carpenters, construction workers and engineers, for
example must possess a thorough understanding of geometry. Once you’ve
learned about trigonometric ratios, you can solve triangles. Many of these
triangles will be presented in the context of word problem.

Activity 1. The Perfect Match

Direction: Using figures 1 and 2, match each trigonometric concept found in
Column A with the correct ratio found in Column B.
B r
P Q
c
a
p
q
C A R
b
Figure 1 Figure 2
Column A Column B

1. Tan A a.
2. Cos A b.
3. Sin P c.
4. Cot P d.
5. Sec P e.

Questions:
1. Did you find the activity helpful?
2. What guarantees that your answers are correct?
3. How did you get the correct ratios?

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 What’s New

Now that you have recalled the different trigonometric ratios you may proceed
to the next activity involving the concepts of angles of elevation and
depression.

Activity 2. Who am I?

Direction: In each of the following illustrations, identify whether ∠A is an angle

of elevation or an angle of depression.

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. A

Questions:
1. What did you realize in the activity
2. Did the activity help you remember the concept of angles of elevation and
depression? How?

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3. How do you differentiate an angle of elevation from an angle of depression?

What Is It

How to solve real-life problems using trigonometric ratios involving right

triangles.
Example 1:
A nursery plants a new tree and attaches a guy wire to help support the tree
while its roots take hold. An eight foot wire is attached to the tree and to a
stake in the ground. From the stake in the ground the angle of elevation of the
connection with the tree is 42º. Find to the nearest tenth of a foot, the height
of the connection point on the tree.

SOLUTION:
Step 1: Visualize the situation
Step 2: Let x be the height of the
connection point on the tree
Step 3: The angle and the hypotenuse
are given, use sine to solve the
problem
Step 4: sin 420 =
Step 5: 0.669 =
X = 5.4’

Example 2:
From the top of a fire tower, a forest ranger sees his partner on the ground at
an angle of depression of 40º. If the tower is 45 feet in height, how far is the
partner from the base of the tower, to the
nearest tenth of a foot?

SOLUTION:
Step 1: Visualize the problem
Step 2: Let x be the distance of the
partner from the base of the tower
Step 3: We will use alternate interior
angles from the parallel horizontal lines,
so place 40 inside the triangle by the partner. The angle and the opposite side
0

are given, use tangent to solve the problem

Step 4: tan 400 =
Step 5: 0.839 =
X = 53.6’

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Example 3
It is estimated that a certain model rocket will reach an altitude of 200 ft. A
photographer is setting up a camera 50 ft away from the launch pad. At what
angle should he set the tripod to get a picture at the maximum altitude?
Solution:
Draw a right triangle to model the problem
The opposite is known and the adjacent side. The
reference angle is the unknown. Use tangent to
solve the problem.
Tan u =

Tan u =
Tan u = 4
U = tan-1(4)
U = 760

What’s More

You need to practice further to be able to master the use of trigonometric

ratios properly by doing the follow-up activities below.

Activity 3. Find Me!

Find the value of x. Round the lengths to the nearest tenth.

1. 2. 3.

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 4. 5.

What I Have Learned

For problems that can be solved with right triangle trigonometry, draw a
triangle and as describe in the problem, then use the concepts of trigonometric
ratios to solve for the unknown.
The six Trigonometric Ratios

Sin = csc =

Cos = sec =

Tan = cot =

What I Can Do

Show your skills and knowledge gained by applying the concepts of

trigonometric ratios into real-life situations.

Activity 4. Let’s Work-it-Out

Solve the following problem using the trigonometric ratios.

1. A ladder 8 meters long leans against the wall of a building. If the foot of the
ladder makes an angle of 680 with the ground, how far is the base of the
ladder from the wall?
2. Adrian is flying a kite. He is holding the end of the string at a distance of 1.5
m above the ground. If the string is 20 m long and makes an angle of 400
with the horizontal, how high is the kite above the ground?
3. A man, 1.5 m tall, is on top of a building. He observes a car on the road at
an angle of 750. If the building is 30m high, how far is the car from the
building?

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4. A four-meter ladder against a wall. If the foot of the ladder makes an angle
of 800 with the ground, how high up the wall does the ladder reach?
5. An airplane took off from an airport and traveled at a constant rate and
angle of elevation. When the airplane reached an altitude of 500 m, it’s
horizontal distance from the airport was found to be 235 m. What was the
angle when the airplane rose from the ground?

Assessment
Let us determine how much you have learned from this module. Read and
understand each item, then choose the letter of your answer and write it on
your answer sheet.

1. With respect to the given angle, what is the ratio of the hypotenuse to the
opposite side?
A) Sine B) cosine C) tangent D) cosecant
2. If the angle between a pair of sides is equal to 90degress, it is called?
A) Acute angle triangle C) Obtuse angle triangle
B) Right angle triangle D) None of these P

3. In right triangle PQR, PQ = 12 cm and QR = 5 cm. What is cos R

A) B) C) D) Q
R
4. If a guy wire for a tree is 8 m long, making a 40 0 angle with
the ground, how far is the base of the tree from the stake
anchoring the wire?
A) 6.13 m B) 7.13 C) 8.13 D) 9.13

5. Find the measure of angle A.

A) 36.60 B)33.60 C) 320 D)300
6. A kite held by 125 m of string makes an angle of
elevation with the ground of 450. About how high is the kite from the
ground?
A) 62.8 m B) 75.1 m C) 88.4 m D) 113.6 m
7. What is the height of the flagpole?

A) 7.44 B) 8.44 C) 9.44 D) 10.44

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8. A five-meter-long ladder leans against a wall, with the top of the ladder
being four meters above the ground. What is the approximate angle that the
ladder makes with the ground?
A)510 B) 520 C)530 D) 540
9. What is the height of the tree on the right?
A) 45” B) 46” C) 47” D) 48”

10) Viola drives 170 meters up a hill that makes an angle of

6° with the horizontal. To the nearest tenth of a meter, what
horizontal distance has she covered?
A) 171.5 m B) 169.1 m C) 1617.4 m
D) 17.8
11. Find the angle of elevation of the sun from the ground to the top of a tree
when a tree that is 10 yards tall casts a shadow 14 yards long. Round to the
nearest degree.
A) 54° B) 36° C) 46° D) 440
12. Find the value of x.

A) 121.21 B) 123.62 C) 126.6 D) 127.8

13. An eagle perched 40 ft up in a tree looks down at a 35 0 angle and spots
a mouse. How far is the mouse from the eagle?
A) 69.74 ft B) 79.74 ft C) 89.74 ft D) 99.74
14. You stand 40 ft from a tree. The angle of elevation from your eyes(5 ft
above the ground) to the top of the tree is 470. How tall is the tree?
A) 50.89 ft B) 49.89 ft C) 48.89 ft D) 47.89 ft
15. A ladder that is 30 ft long needs to reach 27 ft up a building. What
should the angle off of the vertical be?
A) 630 B) 640 C) 650 D) 660

Additional Activities

Learning is not only confined in the four walls of the classroom. Experienced
learning outdoor could also carry out as activities where you can apply what
you have learned in this module.

Direction: Write and illustrate a problem that involves right triangle using
situations found at your home and provide solutions to this problem.

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 Questions:
1. How do you feel about the activity?
2. Were you able to write and illustrate a problem that is required in the
activity? If so, how did you come up with it?

Rubrics

CRITERIA 4 3 2 1

Formulation Statements Organization Poor Not organized;

of the are well of organization not
Problem organized statements of the comprehensible.
making the is somewhat statements Frequent
problem easy jumpy making the grammar and
to making the problem spelling errors
comprehend. problem less hard to
Uses correct easy to comprehend.
grammar and comprehend. With few
spelling. Most errors in
grammar grammar
and spelling and spelling.
are
corrections

Solving the Provides Utilizes Employs Uses entirely

Problem appropriate moderately partial incorrect plan.
process for correct appropriate
solving the process with process but
problem; minimal with
without omission or considerable
errors in error in error in
computations procedure procedure

Illustration The figure or The figure or The figure or The figure or

of the illustration is illustration illustration illustration is
Problem accurately is accurately is not made but not
made, made and accurately appropriate
presentable appropriate made but
and appropriate
appropriate

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What I Know (1) B (4) B (7) D (10) A (13) B
(2) D (5) A (8) C (11) B (14) D
(3) B (6) B (9) D (12) C (15) D
What’s In (Activity 1)
1) F
2) A
3) B
4) D
5) C
What’s New (Activity 2)
1) Angle of depression
2) Angle of depression
3) Angle of elevation
4) Angle of elevation
5) Angle of depression
What’ More (Activity 3)
1) 84.8 ft
2) 46.7 ft
3) 127.8 m
4) 80 yards
5) 323.6 m
What I Can Do (Activity 4)
1) 3 m
2) 14.36 m
3) 8.44 m
4) 3.94 m
5) 64.830
Assessment (1) D (4) A (7) A (10) B (13) A
(2) B (5) B (8) C (11) B (14) D
(3) D (6) C (9) D (12) D (15) B
Key Answers
References:
Angle of Depression/Angle of Elevation. Illustrations. Retrieved from
https://www.math-only-math.com
Geometry Homework Lesson 8.5. Geometry Practice. Retrieved from
https://www.studylib.net
Nivera, Gladys C.,Lapinid, Minnie Rose C. (2013). Patterns and Practicalities.
Grade 9 Mathematics
ExamView-Right Triangle Test. Right Triangle Questions/Problems.
https://www.carlisle.k12.ky.us
Right Triangle Questions. Right Triangle Questions/Problems. https://www.
analyzemath.com

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