Question

A helicopter hovers 1450 feet above a small island. The figure shows that the angle of depression from the helicopter to point P is 41 How far off the​ coast, to the nearest​ foot, is the​ island?

Answer 1

1668 feet.

Explanation:

We know the opposite side of the right triangle and we need the adjacent side, so we use the tangent function.

If the distance required is x (adj side) we have:

tan 41 = opp/adj

tan 41 = 1450/x

x = 1450 / tan 41

= 1668.03