Question

A ship’s sonar finds that the angle of depression to a wreck on the bottom of the ocean is 10.5 If a point on the ocean floor is 55 meters directly below the ship, how many meters, to the nearest tenth, is it from that point on the ocean floor to the wreck?

Answer 1

To solve for x, we can multiply both sides by 55:

x = 55 * tan(10.5)

Using a calculator, we get:

x ≈ 10.1 meters (rounded to the nearest tenth)

Therefore, the wreck is approximately 10.1 meters from the point on the ocean floor directly below the ship.