An airplane approaches a runway at a 3 degree angle of depresssion. If the plane is flying at 30,000 ft., find the ground distance from the airport to the point directly below the plane when the pilot begins the descent. Round your answer to the nearest foot.
I think it is tan3=30000/l ,l =30000/tan3 theni thnk u can cntinue
That is correct
thank you
To solve this problem, we need to use the concept of trigonometry, specifically the tangent function. The tangent of an angle in a right triangle can be defined as the ratio of the length of the opposite side to the length of the adjacent side.
In this case, the angle of depression is 3 degrees, and the opposite side of the right triangle is the height of the airplane, which is given as 30,000 ft. We want to find the length of the adjacent side, which represents the ground distance from the airport to the point directly below the plane.
We can set up the equation as follows:
tan(3 degrees) = opposite/adjacent
tan(3 degrees) = 30,000 ft./adjacent
To find the length of the adjacent side, we rearrange the equation:
adjacent = 30,000 ft. / tan(3 degrees)
Using a scientific calculator, we can find the tangent of 3 degrees:
tan(3 degrees) = 0.0524
Now we can substitute this value into our equation:
adjacent = 30,000 ft. / 0.0524
adjacent ≈ 572519.09 ft.
Rounding to the nearest foot, the ground distance from the airport to the point directly below the plane when the pilot begins the descent is approximately 572,519 ft.