Question

A roller coaster travels 186 ft at an angle of 38.9° above the horizontal. How far does it move horizontally? Answer in units of ft.

Answer 1

To find the horizontal distance moved by the roller coaster, use the formula x = 186 ft × cos(38.9°) by calculating the cosine of the angle above the horizontal.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine how far the roller coaster moves horizontally, we need to use trigonometric functions to solve for the distance along the horizontal axis, which can be done using the cosine function.

The horizontal distance (x) that the roller coaster travels can be calculated using the formula:

x = distance × cos(θ)

Where:

• distance = 186 ft (the total distance traveled by the roller coaster)
• θ = 38.9° (the angle above the horizontal)

Plugging the values into the formula gives:

x = 186 ft × cos(38.9°)

Calculating this, we get the horizontal distance the roller coaster has moved, which will be in units of feet.