- 1). Measure the height of the object from where you are standing using a ruler. For instance, you could look at a tree in the distance and measure it being 22 mm tall from your perspective. This distance is called d and t is the height.
- 2). Walk 10 m further away from your position and measure the tree's height again. For example, this time the tree may measure 20 mm. This new height is t - delta t and the distance, D, is d + delta d.
- 3). Use your compass to determine the tree's relative angle from your position. For instance, the tree may have an angle of 7.75 degrees. Using trigonometry, the actual height of the tree, T, is D * Tan 7.75.
- 4). Plug in your numbers into the proportionality rule which states: delta d(1+(t-delta t)/delta t)) = D. Multiply this by the tangent of the angle and you'll have tree's height. For the above numbers, the actual distance of the tree is: 10m(1+((22-2)/2))= 110 m. Plug the distance into the equation and you get: 110m * Tan 7.75 = 14.97 meters as the actual height of the tree.
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