Question

A plane is taking off at a 15° angle from a horizontal runway. When the altitude of the plane is 250 feet, apply trigonometric functions and the Pythagorean Theorem to find x, the horizontal distance the plane has flown. Round the answer to the nearest whole number.

(1 point)
x=
𝑥
=
feet

Answer 1

Let x be the horizontal distance. With angle 15°,
tan(15°) = opposite/adjacent = 250/x, so x = 250 / tan(15°).

tan(15°) ≈ 0.267949, so x ≈ 250 / 0.267949 ≈ 932.52 ≈ 933 feet.