Question

Explain how you would measure the width of the Grand Canyon from a point on its ridge.

Short answer

The width of the Grand Canyon from a the point on its ridge will be:

$dis\tan ceofthepoint\times \tan \left(\theta \right).$

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. Given Information

Assume a situation in which there is a Grand canyon of width x and there is a point on its ridge which is y units away from it.

Step 2. Calculation of the width

As we can see from the diagram,

$$\begin{gathered} In∆ABC, \\ \tan \left(\angle ABC\right)=\frac{x}{y}, \\ So, \\ x=y\times \tan \left(\angle ABC\right). \end{gathered}$$

So, if we have the distance of the point and the angle the point make with the edges of the canyon then we can easily find the width of the canyon using above fromula.