Question

A lighthouse rises 160 feet above sea level. The top of the lighthouse is sighted in at a 3 degree angle from a ship at sea. What is the distance between the ship and lighthouse?

Answer 1

we must use trigonometric ratios

we will use Tan

`\tan \alpha=\frac{\text{opposite }}{\text{adjacent}}`

so replacing

`\tan (3)=(x)/(160)`

and solve x

`\begin{gathered} x=160*\tan (3) \\ \\ x=8.39 \end{gathered}`

the dustance betweem the ship and lighthouse is 8.4ft