Question

a ship travels 60 miles due east, then adjusts its course northward. after travelling 80 miles in the new direction, the ship is 139 miles from its point of departure. calculate the ship's bearing.

Answer 1

we want the ship's heading, not bearing.

using the law of cosines,

60^2 + 139^2 - 2(60)(139)cosθ = 80^2

now just find θ (that is the direction relative to due east, not the ship's heading)