Bookmark Us  |  New User ? Sign Up  |  Sign In  |  Help
Tutor Answer
Get Answer from our tutors for free
TutorTutors.com
Question
Ask whatever question, you wish. Make sure you select the correct category for the question.
Answer
Like to help other, then browse through the open questions to answer their questions.
Find
Find answer by browsing the resolved questions.
     
Search for questions :
My Profile

bobby

Open Questions Bookmark and Share

GEOMETRY/TRIG QUESTION

Forest ranger spots fire from top of tower. Tower is 150 m tall and ANGLE OF DEPRESSION to fire is 10 degrees. About how far is the fire from the foot of the tower. (MULTIPLE CHOICE: 148, 753, 863, 851.)
I tried tangent of 10 (depression angle) but no luck. I tried tangent of 80, no luck. I think the formula TANGENT of angle = opposite side/adjacent side but no luck. HELP!!!

720 day(s) ago

    Comment(s) (0)
    Report Abuse
   Find Interesting  
   Email to Friends  
   Bookmark  
   Subscribe to Answer Alert  
No comments yet !!!     Be the first to comment !!!
Answers (3)

jcatta21 		This is a very simple problem that involves simple trigonometric definitions. From the above problem, the height is represented as 150 = oppSide with degree-angle of 10-degrees angle of depression. This angle of depression can be envisioned as a straight line having a negative slope downwards from the roof of the tower. In your problem, you are asked to find the fire from the foot of the tower. If you simplistically think about it, you already have the distance of it from the top of the tower including the angle of elevation. These two relationships involve merely oppSide and AdjSide thus, entailing the rules of trigonometry. A special rule that you can use to find the answer is that of tangent, which is defined formally as tan(theta) = OppSide / AdjSide = y / x; where (y = 150) && (x = ?) (theta = 10). Thus,

tan(theta) = y / x = 150/x => x * tan(10) = 150 => x = -150 / tan(-10) = 851.

Jcatta21

Posted 715 dy ago

( 0 )
( 0 )
    Comment(s) (0)
   Report Abuse
No comments yet !!! Be the first to comment on this answer !!!


jayteacher 		The height of the ranger's tower is 150 ft., so that is the opposite side of the angle -10°. (The angle is negative since the measurement is of an angle of depression.) The equation tan -10° = (Opposite side of the angle -10°) / (Adjacent side of the angle -10°). The distance to the fire will be the Adjacent side of the angle 10°.

Now cross multiply Adjacent side of the angle 10° and tan(-10°). By the way the opposite side is -150 because the displacement of the tower to the ground is in the negative direction.

Adjacent side of the angle 10° = -150 / tan(-10°) = 851 m

Posted 718 dy ago

( 0 )
( 0 )
    Comment(s) (0)
   Report Abuse
No comments yet !!! Be the first to comment on this answer !!!


matherapist 		Tan(80deg)=x/150, x=150*tan(80)=850.7 so 851 is the distance as it said "about" Be sure your calculator is set for degrees and not radians and that you are using the tan function, and not the tan-1 function. Also make sure you close the parenthesis on the angle as
tan(80*150) is not the same as
tan(80)*150

Posted 720 dy ago

( 0 )
( 0 )
    Comment(s) (0)
   Report Abuse
No comments yet !!! Be the first to comment on this answer !!!

Edit your answer. Click save, when done.
Question Title GEOMETRY/TRIG QUESTION
Your Answer
  |         |                            
bold  italic  underline  strike       big  small       superscript  subscript 
  Allows to add a link.
Caption :
Link URL :
( Must starts with "http://" )
Add  |   Cancel
  Allow to insert an image. Must be among the following file types - *.jpg, *.gif, *.png & *.bmp.
Image Url :   Upload New
( Image url must always starts with " http:// " )
Width : pixels
( Must not be greater than 450px. Enter 0px for no resize )
Add  |   Cancel
  Allow to insert YouTube video. Insert the video embed code.
Embed Code :
Add  |   Cancel
Character Count ( Max. - 5000 ) : 384
  Your comment on this question
  |         |                            
bold  italic  underline  strike       big  small       superscript  subscript 
  Allows to add a link.
Caption :
Link URL :
( Must starts with "http://" )
Add  |   Cancel
  Allow to insert an image. Must be among the following file types - *.jpg, *.gif, *.png & *.bmp.
Image Url :   Upload New
( Image url must always starts with " http:// " )
Width : pixels
( Must not be greater than 450px. Enter 0px for no resize )
Add  |   Cancel
  Allow to insert YouTube video. Insert the video embed code.
Embed Code :
Add  |   Cancel
Max Allowed : 5000 Characters Current Count : 0
  Your comment on this answer
  |         |                            
bold  italic  underline  strike       big  small       superscript  subscript 
  Allows to add a link.
Caption :
Link URL :
( Must starts with "http://" )
Add  |   Cancel
  Allow to insert an image. Must be among the following file types - *.jpg, *.gif, *.png & *.bmp.
Image Url :   Upload New
( Image url must always starts with " http:// " )
Width : pixels
( Must not be greater than 450px. Enter 0px for no resize )
Add  |   Cancel
  Allow to insert YouTube video. Insert the video embed code.
Embed Code :
Add  |   Cancel
Max Allowed : 5000 Characters Current Count : 0
Email this question link to friends
You must enter email-address, if name is entered and vice-versa for each friend.
Friend #1 -
Friend #2 -
Friend #3 -
Friend #4 -
Friend #5 -

 

©2012 TutorAnswer.com, All rights reserved! • Contact us • Terms & Conditions • Privacy Policy • Follow Us on Twitter