A conveyor belt carries supplies from the first floor to the second floor, which is 14 feet higher. The belt makes a 60° angle with the ground. How far do the supplies travel from one end of the conveyor belt to the other? Round your answer to the nearest foot.
A. 16 ft
B. 18 ft
C. 20 ft
D. 14 ft
We can use trigonometry to solve this problem. The hypotenuse of the right triangle formed by the ground and the conveyor belt represents the distance the supplies travel from one end to the other.
We can use the sine function to find the length of the hypotenuse.
sin(60°) = opposite/hypotenuse
sin(60°) = 14/hypotenuse
To isolate the hypotenuse, we can rearrange the equation:
hypotenuse = 14/sin(60°)
Using a calculator, we can find:
hypotenuse ≈ 16 ft
Therefore, the supplies travel approximately 16 feet from one end to the other. The answer is A. 16 ft.