Question

Find the value of tan P rounded to the nearest hundredth, if necessary.

Answer 1

4.3 or 4.29

Explanation:

Since it's a right angle triangle, you can use trig functions to solve.

You already know that the side across from P is 2 and the hypotenuse is
`√(78)`, so you can use cosine.

`cos(P)=(2)/(√(78))\\cos^(-1) ((2)/(√(78)))=P\\P=76.912`degrees, or 1.342 radians.

Then, put in your angle for your tangent.

`tan(76.912)=4.301\\tan(1.342)=4.294`

Finally, round to the hundredth:

4.301 becomes 4.3

4.294 becomes 4.29

Of course, these should be about the same, but will be slightly different because we rounded when computing cosine and tangent earlier.