An airplane pilot over the Pacific sights an atoll at an angle of depression of 10°. At this time, the horizontal distance from the airplane to the atoll is 3,172 meters.
Question
Answer:
The question was posted incomplete.This is the part missing:
What is the height of the plane to the nearest meter?
Answer: 559 m.
Explanation:
1) The horizontal distance between the plane and tha atoll makes a right triangle with the height, with the depression angle between the two legs.
2) Therefore, you can use the tangent trigonometric ratio:
tan(10°) = opposite-leg / adyacent-leg = height / horizontal distance
⇒ height = horizontal distance × tan (10°)
⇒ height = 3,172 m × tan(10°) = 559.31 m, which rounded to the nearest m is 559
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