the part in the question where it says, "angle of elevation from the tip of a building is 70 degrees" means that from a specific point away from the building, if you were to connect that point to the top of the building, that line will make a 70 degree angle with the ground. we also know that specific point is 180 feet from the base of the building. this calls for some trigonometry.
the h (height of the building) is a side length opposite to the 70 degree angle, and we know the side length adjacent to the 70 degree angle is 180. if you're confused about what im saying, draw the picture out. this motivates us to use tan. doing so gives:
tan70 = h/180
now we can solve for h to get:
h = 180tan70
h = 494.55
make sure that your calculator is in degree mode, not in radian mode!!!
let me know if you have any questions.
