Question

Kabir is flying a helicopter at an elevation of 1,350 feet. He sees an airplane 2,400 horizontal feet infront of him, but doesn't know how far the plane is above him. If the angle of elevation is 54 degrees,how far is the airplane
from the ground?

3,303 feet
5,245 feet
4,653 feet
4,414 feet

Answer 1

Let h be the airplane's altitude. The vertical rise above the helicopter is 2400·tan(54°), so

h = 1350 + 2400·tan(54°) ≈ 1350 + 2400(1.3763819) ≈ 1350 + 3303.32 ≈ 4653 ft.

Answer: 4,653 feet.