A helicopter is hovering 110 feet... geometry question.

Question

A helicopter is hovering 110 feet in the air over a landing pad. If the landing agent sees the copter at an angle of elevation of 29 degrees, how far Is the landing agent from the helicopter landing pad?

Answer 1

You have a right triangle of height 110 feet, and an unknown base that you want to solve for.

 

height / base = tan29°

 

base = height / tan29° = (110 feet) / tan29° = 198.4 feet

Answer 2

let distance of landing agent from the helicopter landing pad = x

 

tan 29 = 110/x

 

x = 110/tan 29

 

x= 198.44 ft