Question

An airplane is approaching Seattle international airport. The pilot begins a 13-degree angle of descent starting from a height of 500 feet. What is the distance (x) from the plane to the airport?

Answer 1

To solve the problem, we can use trigonometry.

First, let's draw a diagram:

```
A
|--------x-------|
| / |
| / 13° |
| / |
| / |
| / |
| / 500 ft |
| / |
|/________________|
B
```

In this diagram, A represents the airplane and B represents the airport. x is the distance we want to find.

We know that the angle of descent is 13 degrees, so we can use the tangent function:

```
tan(13) = x / 500
```

To solve for x, we can rearrange the equation:

```
x = 500 * tan(13)
```

Using a calculator, we find that x is approximately 113.6 feet. Therefore, the distance from the plane to the airport is approximately 113.6 feet.