Question

Marna is flying a helicopter at 1,350 feet and sees an airplane 2,400 horizontal feet in front of her, but is also an unknown vertical distance above her. Marna knows the angle of elevation is 54 degrees. How far is the airplane from the ground?(1 point)
Responses

4,714 feet
4,714 feet

4,653 feet
4,653 feet

3,303 feet
3,303 feet

5,245 feet

Answer 1

Let h be the airplane altitude. The vertical rise above Marna is 2400·tan(54°). So

h = 1350 + 2400·tan(54°) ≈ 1350 + 2400(1.37638) ≈ 4653.3.

So the airplane is about 4,653 feet above the ground.