SOLUTION: Suppose you live 4.4 miles from a hill. From your home you see a plane directly above the hill. Your angle of elevation to the plane is 30 degrees. What is the plane's altitude?

Question 83632: Suppose you live 4.4 miles from a hill. From your home you see a plane directly above the hill. Your angle of elevation to the plane is 30 degrees. What is the plane's altitude?
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) (Show Source): You can put this solution on YOUR website!
Suppose you live 4.4 miles from a hill. From your home you see a plane directly above the hill. Your angle of elevation to the plane is 30 degrees. What is the plane's altitude?
:
A right triangle formed by the line of sight to the plane (hypotenuse),
Distance to the hill (given as 4.4 miles)
the altitude of the plane; call it x
:
Use the tan of 30 degrees; side opposite = x, side adjacent = 4.4 mi
:
Tan(30) =
:
.57735 =
:
x = 4.4 * .57735
:
x = 2.54 miles high
:
Altitude usually given in feet: 2.54 * 5280 ~ 13,400 ft
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