Question
An airplane is descending 225 feet per 1000 feet of horizontal distance covered. What is the cosine of the angle that its path of descents makes with the horizontal.
Answers
Reiny
slope of a line is the tangent of the angle that the line makes with the horizontal,
so slope = rise/run = 225/1000 = 9/40
so the hypotenuse of the corresponding triangle is
√(40^2 + 9^2) = √1681
cosine (angle) = 40/√1681 = 40/41
so slope = rise/run = 225/1000 = 9/40
so the hypotenuse of the corresponding triangle is
√(40^2 + 9^2) = √1681
cosine (angle) = 40/√1681 = 40/41