SOLUTION: From the top of a 250-ft lighthouse, the angle of depression to a ship in the ocean is 28°. How far is the ship from the base of the lighthouse? Round your answer to the nearest fo
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Question 888692: From the top of a 250-ft lighthouse, the angle of depression to a ship in the ocean is 28°. How far is the ship from the base of the lighthouse? Round your answer to the nearest foot.
You can put this solution on YOUR website! angle of depression is 28 degrees.
90 - 28 = 62 degrees.
you have a triangle with a height of 250 perpendicular to the ground with a top angle of 62 degrees.
to find the base, find the tangent of 62 degrees.
tan(62) = opposite / adjacent = base / 250
solve for base to get:
base = 250 * tan(62) = 470.1816263
a picture of your triangle is shown below:
