Trying to help my son with 10th grade geometry...

Question

An airplane takes off at an 30 degree angle of elevation. The pilot needs to be 3000 ft in the air. How long would the hypotenuse of the triangle be in terms of feet?

Answer 1

Draw a 30-60-90 right triangle.

The vertical side, the side opposite the 30° angle, is always half of the hypotenuse.

The vertical side is 3000 feet because the pilot needs to be 3000 feet in the air.

Therefore, the hypotenuse must be 6000 feet long.