Question

From the top of a 193 foot lighthouse the angle of depression to a ship in ocean is 14° how far is the ship from the base of the lighthouse give your answer to the nearest foot

Answer 1

774 feet.

Explanation:

Let x represents how far the ship is from the base of the lighthouse.

We use the tangent ratio, which involves opposite over adjacent to find x.

`\tan(14 \degree) = (opposite)/(adjacent)`

`\tan(14 \degree) = (193)/(x)`

`x = (193)/( \tan(14 \degree) )`

`x = 774.08`

To the nearest whole number, the distance is 774 ft.