SOLUTION: a plane flying across Kansas is observed by two radar stations one 6 miles due east of the plane and one 13 miles due west of the plane. The station due east records an elevation

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Question 507268: a plane flying across Kansas is observed by two radar stations one 6 miles due east of the plane and one 13 miles due west of the plane. The station due east records an elevation of 72.3 degrees. What elevation will the station due west measure?
Answer by ankor@dixie-net.com(22740) About Me  (Show Source):
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a plane flying across Kansas is observed by two radar stations one 6 miles due east of the plane and one 13 miles due west of the plane.
The station due east records an elevation of 72.3 degrees.
What elevation will the station due west measure?
:
The slant ranges of the radars to the plane is the hypotenuse of two right triangles
:
Find the height using the east radar using sine of the angle and the slant range
:
sin(72.3) = h%2F6
h = 6*cos(72.3) = 5.7 mi high
:
Find the angle (a) from the west radar, using it's slant range and the height
sin(a) = 5.7%2F13
a = 26 degree angle seen by the west radar.