Trigonmetry! Finding the distance of a ship from shore?

Q: HELP!! Can't seem to figure out this problem! Thanks.. A person in a small boat, offshore from a vertical cliff known to be 100 feet in height, takes a sighting of the top of the cliff. If the angle of elevation is found to be 30 degrees, how far offshore is the ship?

A: tan 30 / 1 = 100 / distance Cross multiply 100 * 1 ---------- = 173.2 feet tan 30

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