A kite is attached to a 300 ft string, which makes a 42 degree angle with the level ground. The kite pilot is holding the string 4 ft above the ground.

Question

a) How high above the ground is the kite?
b) Suppose there are power lines 200 feet in front of the kite flier that are 150 ft tall. Is there any risk that the kite will tangle in the power lines, if the kite flier doesn’t move?

Answer 1

(a) The height h above where it was being held is found via
h/300 = sin42°

(b) At 200 ft away, the height of the kite is
4 + 200 tan42°

or, compare 150^2 + 200^2 to the 300-ft length of the string. Is the string long enough to reach the wires?