Michael P. answered • 02/22/18
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Let x1 = distance from bottom of cliff to first boat (at 25 degree angle of depression - from horizontal)
x2 = distance from bottom of cliff to second boat (at 20 degree angle of depression - from horizontal)
d = x2 - x1 = distance boats are apart from each other (m)
h = height of cliff from water surface = 200 m
x1 = h/[tan(25o)] = (200 m)/(0.4663) = 428.9 m
x2 = h/[tan(20o)] = (200 m)/(0.3640) = 549.5 m
d = x2 - x1 = 549.5 m - 428.9 m = 120.6 m apart
Michael P.
Look at the equations I set up. Both distances include a tangent function, one is tan (25 degrees) and the other is tan (20 degrees) with the tan (25 degrees) = 0.4663 and the tan (20 degrees) = 0.3640.
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03/20/19
Michael P.
The tan(angle of depression) = cliff height/distance from cliff bottom. Solve for both angles of depression then take the difference between them which gives you the boats distance from each other.
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03/20/19
Stephanie V.
I got tan(25)=−0.133526
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04/10/19
Michael P.
It looks like you are using radians instead of degrees. To check, insert tan (45). If the units are in degrees then you should get tan (45) = 1. If you get something else then your calculator is prolly set to radians. Therefore, either change the calculator setting from radians to degrees or you can solve by using tan (25×3.14158/180) or tan (25×pi/180).
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04/10/19
Ally W.
Where does the denominator come from? The 0.46 and 0.36. Did you divide something.03/19/19