Angle of Elevation

• The angle of elevation is measured upwards from the horizontal. The angle is made between a horizontal plane and a straight line to a given object that is elevated off the ground.

In this example it shows the angle of elevation of the kite from the person. The person is looking upwards at the kite.

Angle of Depression 

• The angle of depression is measured downwards from the horizontal. The angle is formed with the horizontal line if the line of sight is downward from the horizontal line.

In this example it shows the angle of depression of the person from the money. The person is looking down at the stack of cash.

Vocabulary

Depression- Referring how low something is off a horizontal plane.

Elevation- Referring to how high something is off the horizon or off a horizontal plane.

Line of sight- The angle between the horizontal and the line from the object to the observer’s eye.

Why?

Understanding the the angle of elevation and depression is important because it is often used in word problems that involve a person’s line of sight when they look at an object. These angles can be used to solve math problems involving trigonometric functions such as sine, cosine, and tangent.

Photo Source

Angle of Elevation, Brigette Banaszak, https://study.com/learn/lesson/angle-of-elevation.html.