Question

the pilot in an airplane observes the angle of depression of a light directly below his line of sight to be 30.4 degrees. a minute later, its angle of depression is 43.0 degrees. if he is flying horizontally in a straight course at the rate of 150 mph, find the altitude at which he is flying? his distance from the light at the first point of observation?

Answer 1

Draw a diagram. You have a triangle with angles 30.4°, 137.0°, and 12.6°.

At 150 mph, he travels

150mi/hr * 1hr/60min * 1min = 2.5 mi

So, now you can use the law of sines to get the distance at first sighting

2.5/sin12.6° = d/sin137°
d = 7.82 mi

Now, you can get the altitude using

h/7.82 = sin 30.4°
h = 3.96 mi

Answer 2

Diagram please