From an airplane flying over a bridge at an altitude of 640 m, the angle of depression to the airport is 26o. How far is it from the bridge to the airport?

Answer 1

640 m high above the bridge

26 degrees looking down at an airport

distance from bridge to airport?

contruct a right triangle

angle = 26 degrees

height = 640

tangent 26 = opposite side/adjacent= 640/base

cotangent 26 = base/640

base = distance from bridge to airport = 640cot26

= about 1,312.19 m

helps to draw a diagram or graph