Calculate the angle of elevation from height and horizontal distance, or find a missing side given the angle.
Share this calculator
How to use
Choose a mode: find the angle of elevation from height and distance, or find a missing measurement given the angle. The angle of elevation is measured upward from the horizontal line of sight.
Also in Triangles
Trigonometry
The angle of elevation calculator finds the angle formed between the horizontal and the line of sight upward from an observer to a higher object. Enter height and distance to compute the angle, or provide the angle and one side to find the other.
The angle of elevation is the angle between the horizontal plane at the observer and the line of sight upward to an object. It is the complement scenario to the angle of depression: both angles are equal for the same pair of points.
The angle ranges from 0° (object at the same level) to just under 90° (object almost directly overhead).
From a right triangle, the angle of elevation θ = arctan(height / horizontal distance). Given the angle and one side, the other side can be found using tan(θ) = height / distance.
Frequently asked questions
It is widely used in construction (calculating ramp slopes), astronomy (measuring the altitude of celestial objects), and architecture (determining the height of buildings from a known distance).
The object is nearly directly above the observer. The horizontal distance approaches zero relative to the height, and tan(θ) approaches infinity.
Related
These related calculators come from the same leaf category, nearby sibling categories, or the same top-level topic.
Calculate the angle of depression from height and horizontal distance, or find a missing side given the angle.
Solve a triangle using the law of cosines — find a missing side from two sides and the included angle, or find an angle from three sides.
Solve a triangle using the law of sines — find missing sides or angles from a known side-angle pair and one additional measurement.
Calculate sine, cosine, and tangent ratios for a right triangle from side lengths or find missing sides from an angle.
