Question

A plane's altitude is 2,400 feet. For the pilot, the angle of depression to the base of a control tower is

13°. What is the ground distance from the plane to the base of the control tower?
Round to the nearest foot.
feet

Answer 1

Ground distance = 10396 feet (nearest foot)

Explanation:

The horizontal distance given the vertical is governed by the tangent of the angle of depression.

V/H = tan(angle of depression)

Hence

H = V / tan(angle of depression)

= 2400 / tan(13)

= 10395.5 feet