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How far off the coast to the nearest foot is the island. (Pic included)

How far off the coast to the nearest foot is the island. (Pic included)-example-1

1 Answer

3 votes

Answer:

1420 feet

Explanation:

You want the distance to an island when the angle of elevation to a helicopter 1150 ft above the island is 39°.

Tangent

The tangent ratio is ...

Tan = Opposite/Adjacent

The unknown distance d is adjacent to the 39° angle of elevation to the helicopter, and the height of the helicopter is the opposite side. Using these values, we have ...

tan(39°) = (1150 ft)/d

d = (1150 ft)/tan(39°) ≈ 1420 ft

The distance to the island is 1420 feet.

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Additional comment

The angle of elevation is the same as the angle of depression between the same two points.

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