Question

An airplane rises at an angle of 15o with the ground. Find, to the nearest 10 feet, the distance it has flown when it has covered a horizontal distance of 1500 feet.

Answer 1

Answer:

The distance flown by the airplane to nearest tenth of a feet = 1550 ft.

Step-by-step explanation:

Given:

Then angle at which the airplane rises = 15°

Horizontal distance it has covered = 1500 ft

To find the distance it has flown to nearest tenth feet.

Solution:

On tracing the path of the plane, we can draw a right triangle such that the adjacent side is 1500 feet and the angle of elevation is 15°.

We need the hypotenuse of the right triangle as it represents the distance flown by the airplane..

Applying trigonometric ratio:

$\cos\theta = \frac{Adjacent\ side}{Hypotenuse}$

Let hypotenuse be = $x$

Plugging in the given values.

$\cos 15\°=\frac{1500}{x}$

Multiplying both sides by $x$

$x\cos15\°=\frac{1500}{x}.x$

$x\cos15\°=1500$

Dividing both sides by $cos15\°$.

$\frac{x\cos15\°}{\cos 15\°}=\frac{1500}{\cos 15\°}$

∴ $x=1552.91$

Thus, the distance flown by the airplane to nearest tenth of a feet = 1550 ft.