Question:hard

A tower stands vertically on the ground. A man standing at the top of the tower observes his friend at an angle of depression of 30\(^{\circ}\), who is approaching the foot of the tower with a uniform speed. 30 seconds later, the angle of depression changes to 60\(^{\circ}\). Find the time taken by his friend to reach the foot of the tower from this point.

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For any motion problem with angles changing from \( 30^{\circ} \) to \( 60^{\circ} \) towards the base:
The time taken to cover the remaining distance is always exactly half the time taken to cover the first interval.
Since the first interval took 30 seconds, the second interval takes exactly \( 30 / 2 = 15 \) seconds.
Updated On: Jul 7, 2026
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Solution and Explanation

Step 1: Set up the two distances in terms of the tower height.
Let the height of the tower be $h$, let $C$ be the foot of the tower, $A$ the friend's first position and $B$ the friend's position 30 seconds later, with $B$ closer to the tower than $A$.
At $A$, the angle of depression is $30^{\circ}$, so:
\[ \tan 30^{\circ} = \frac{h}{AC} \implies AC = \frac{h}{\tan 30^{\circ}} = h\sqrt{3} \] At $B$, the angle of depression is $60^{\circ}$, so:
\[ \tan 60^{\circ} = \frac{h}{BC} \implies BC = \frac{h}{\tan 60^{\circ}} = \frac{h}{\sqrt{3}} \]
Step 2: Compare the two distances as a ratio instead of computing each one as a number.
Since both $AC$ and $BC$ are written in terms of the same $h$, take their ratio so that $h$ cancels out:
\[ \frac{AC}{BC} = \frac{h\sqrt{3}}{h/\sqrt{3}} = \sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3} = 3 \] So $AC = 3 \times BC$.

Step 3: Use the fact that speed is uniform, so time is proportional to distance covered.
The distance covered while walking from $A$ to $B$ is:
\[ AB = AC - BC = 3(BC) - BC = 2(BC) \] The friend walked this distance $AB = 2(BC)$ in 30 seconds, moving at a constant (uniform) speed. Since the speed never changes, the time taken to cover any distance is directly proportional to that distance: covering a longer stretch always takes proportionally longer.
The remaining distance to the foot of the tower is $BC$, which is exactly half of $AB = 2(BC)$.
Because time is proportional to distance at a constant speed, covering half the distance takes half the time:
\[ \text{Remaining time} = 30 \times \frac{BC}{AB} = 30 \times \frac{BC}{2(BC)} = 30 \times \frac{1}{2} = 15 \text{ seconds} \] Notice that the actual values of $h$, $AC$ and $BC$ never had to be calculated as numbers, since only their ratio mattered.

Final Answer:
The friend takes 15 more seconds to reach the foot of the tower.
\[ \boxed{15 \text{ seconds}} \]
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