WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Height of Object from Angle of Elevation Using Sine

​
laser distance r
100
elevation angle θ (degrees)
30
You can find the height
h
of an object from the angle of elevation
θ
and the distance
r
to the top.
In this Demonstration, the object is an obelisk, and the distance
r
is found using a laser range finder.
The sine of an angle
θ
in a right triangle is the length of the opposite side divided by the hypotenuse. In this case,
sinθ=h/r
. Therefore, the height of the obelisk is given by
h=rsinθ
.