Word Problem

Question

Jack, John and Josh all went camping together, but each one took a separate tent. The paths between the tents form the sides of a right triangle. If Jack's tent is 20 feet from Josh's and the angle formed at Jack's tent is 20°, how far is Josh's tent from John's? Round answer to two decimal places.

Answer 1

draw a right triangle with the hypotenuse on the right side and the vertical side on the left side

use the tangent function

tan=opposite/adjacent

tan20º=x/20 where x=the distance from Josh's tent to John's tent

20tan20º=x

x=20tan20º

x=20*0.36397

x=7.2794 feet, the distance Josh's tent is fro John's tent

x=7.28 feet rounded