The captain measures the the angle of elevation to the top of the lighthouse to be 23 degrees.
How far is the ship from the base of the lighthouse?
2006-10-24 06:13:09 · 3 answers · asked by pnoiz1 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Mathematics
Draw a diagram starting with the lighthouse and the ship. You get a right triangle with one leg being the distance between the base and the top of the lighthouse (100 ft) and the other leg between the base of the lighthouse and the ship.
In a right triangle, the tangent of an angle is equal to the opposite side divided by the adjacent side. Applying this to your diagram, tan 23 = 100/x where x is the distance from the ship to the base of the lighthouse.
x = 100/(tan23) = 235.58 ft
2006-10-24 07:18:12 · answer #1 · answered by mortgagelns 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Tan 23 = 100/distance
2006-10-24 13:38:41 · answer #2 · answered by davidosterberg1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
do your own homework!
2006-10-24 13:20:56 · answer #3 · answered by kiddo shorty 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋