A jet climbs at an angle of 26 degrees to the ground. The cruising height for the jet is 8000m, the climbing speed is 300km/hr and the cruising speed is 450km/hr. How far is it from the airport 5 minutes after taking off? Please explain thoroughly.

Answer 1

it takes 8/300 hours to get to cruising height. That's 1.6 minutes

in the remaining 3.4 minutes it travels 3.4/60*450 = 25.5 km

during the climb, it traveled 8cot26° = 16.4 km along the ground.

After flying the additional 25.5 km, it is 41.9 km away along the ground.

So, the actual straight-line distance d is given by

d^2 = 41.9^2 + 8^2