Question

Find the measure of the side of the right triangle, whose length is designated by a lowercase letter.

a= __ cm

(photo below)

Answer 1

a ≈ 402.8 cm

Explanation:

using the tangent ratio in the right triangle

tan40° =
`(opposite)/(adjacent)` =
`(a)/(480)` ( multiply both sides by 480 )

480 × tan40° = a , then

a ≈ 402.8 cm ( to 1 decimal place )