Asked by Anonymous

A sled travels from point A at the top of a hill to point B at the bottom. If the sled travels 120 m from A to B and the vertical descent AC is 50 m, what is the angle of depression to the nearest degree?

arctan=50/120
Answered by Steve
you have posted quite a few of these, and I think you have missed them all. Better review the definitions of the basic trig function. For this one, you want

arcsin(50/120)
Answered by DrBob222
I agree with Steve. I think you have mis-labeled the diagram. The distance AB is 120m and that is the hypotenuse of the triangle and not the base.
Answered by Anonymous
thank you, and my tutor's not very good, and I am home schooled so I have to kind of learn it for myself no one is around to explain it and help me understand I do not have a book due to the budget
Answered by Steve
money is no excuse. you evidently have the internet. A simple google search will provide oodles of explanations and examples.

One key fact, which I found one of my students was having trouble with: For the purposes of the trig functions, <b>the hypotenuse is not a side</b>!

When looking at one of the acute angles in a right triangle, opposite and adjacent refer to one of the perpendicular sides, <b>not</b> the hypotenuse.

So, consider the angle in question, and its cosine is

adjacentside/hypotenuse

the hypotenuse is also adjacent, but it is not a side in this context.
There are no AI answers yet. The ability to request AI answers is coming soon!