Enter a height and distance, or an angle and distance, to calculate the angle of elevation.
How to Use the Angle of Elevation Calculator
In Find Angle mode, enter a height and horizontal distance to get the angle of elevation. In Find Height mode, enter the angle and distance instead to solve for the height.
angle = tan⁻¹(height ÷ distance)
height = distance × tan(angle)The angle of elevation is measured upward from horizontal — looking up at a flagpole, a plane, or a cliff top. It's the same right-triangle relationship behind a ladder's pitch or a ramp's slope, just described from the observer's end rather than the object's: horizontal distance is the adjacent leg, height is the opposite leg, and the angle sits between the ground and the sightline.