A meteorologist measures the angle of elevation of a weather balloon as 41 degrees. A radio signal from the balloon indicates that it is 1503 meters from her location. How high is the weather balloon above the ground?

To find the opposite (height) side length we will be using tangent since we know the adjacent

the formula will be:

tan (angle of elevation) = height (x) / distance

now fill in the amounts:

tan41=x/1503

now solve by first multiplying each side by 1503:

x=1503tan41

now put this into your calculator. you should get:

x≈241.467

since this is the final answer, round it to the hundredths:

x≈241.47

the answer is, the weather balloon is about 241.47 meters above the ground.