General Sherman, a tree located in Sequoia National Park, stands 275
feet tall. To see the top of the tree, Carlos looks up at a 11°
angle of elevation. If Carlos is 6
feet tall, how far is he from the base of the tree to the nearest foot?

Respuesta :

Answer:

So, Carlos is approximately 1352 feet away from the base of the tree. Rounded to the nearest foot, Carlos is about 1352 feet away from the base of the tree.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the distance from Carlos to the base of the tree, we can use trigonometry, specifically the tangent function.

The tangent of an angle in a right triangle is equal to the opposite side divided by the adjacent side.

Let:

- \( h \) be the height of the tree (275 feet)

- \( d \) be the distance from Carlos to the base of the tree (what we want to find)

- \( \theta \) be the angle of elevation (11°)

- \( C \) be the height of Carlos (6 feet)

We can set up the following equation using tangent:

\[ \tan(\theta) = \frac{h - C}{d} \]

Substituting the given values:

\[ \tan(11^\circ) = \frac{275 - 6}{d} \]

We can now solve for \( d \):

\[ d = \frac{275 - 6}{\tan(11^\circ)} \]

Using a calculator:

\[ d ≈ \frac{269}{\tan(11^\circ)} ≈ \frac{269}{0.1989} ≈ 1352.1 \]

So, Carlos is approximately 1352 feet away from the base of the tree. Rounded to the nearest foot, Carlos is about 1352 feet away from the base of the tree.

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