A plane is flying at an altitude of 12000 m. From the pilot the angle of depression to the airport tower is 32°. How far is the tower from the point directly beneath the plane? Round to the nearest thousandth.

Answer 1

tan^=p/b
tan32°=12000/b
0.62=12000/b
(0.62×b)=12000
b=12000/0.62
b=19354.83871m

Answer 2

The solving procedure is correct but:

tan 32 ° = 0.624869352

12000 / tan 32 ° = 12000 / 0.624869352 = 19204.0143457 m

19000 m
rounded to the nearest thousandth.