A ship is 2.6° off course. If the ship is traveling at 24.0 miles per hour, how far off course will it be after 2 hours?

Answer 1

If the ship is traveling 24 miles per hour, then after 2 hours it will have traveled 48 miles:

The difference between the two courses (Planned Course and Actual Course) form a triangle where the Actual Couse is the hypotenuse of the triangle and is a length of 48 miles like this:

The trig ratio "sine" is the ratio opposite over hypotenuse so:

sin(2.6°) = x/48

Can you solve this equation using your Algebra skills?