Asked by ben

reed is snorkeling on the surface of the ocean 22 feet from an anchored boat. the anchor is on the ocean floor 34 feet away from reed
what is the angle of depression between reed and the anchor

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Assume the anchor is directly below the boat, so the horizontal distance from Reed to the anchor = 22 ft and the straight-line distance = 34 ft. The depth (vertical leg) is

depth = sqrt(34^2 − 22^2) = sqrt(1156 − 484) = sqrt(672) = 4√42 ≈ 25.923 ft.

The angle of depression θ satisfies tan θ = depth / horizontal = (4√42) / 22 ≈ 25.923 / 22 ≈ 1.1783, so

θ = arctan(1.1783) ≈ 49.9° ≈ 50°.