Question

An airplane is at a cruising height of 9,850 feet. If the angle of depression to the runway is 15°, what is the ground distance, to the nearest foot, from the point directly below the airplanes location to the runway? Include a sketch that shows all known information and clearly shows what you need to find. Show all work and give the answer rounded to the nearest foot.

Answer 1

Answer:

36,761 feet to the nearest foot.

Step-by-step explanation:

We have a triangle with the side opposite the angle of 15 degrees = 9850 ft and the adjacent side = x ft.

tan 15 = opp / adj = 9850 / x    where x is the ground distance.

x = 9850 / tan 15

=  36,760.7 ft.