A submersible traveling at a depth of 250 feet dives at an angle of 15º with respect to a line parallel to the water’s surface. It travels a horizontal distance of 1500 feet during the dive. What is the depth of the submersible after the dive?

Answer 1

Always make a sketch.
draw a horizontal showing 250 ft below the water line
mark it as 1500
draw a vertical at the end of the horizontal to show the depth of the dive, label it x
label the angle of the dive as 15°

Now, in relation to the Ø, isn't the horizontal line of 1500 the "adjacent" ?
and isn't he vertical line of x the "opposite"
Which trig ratio uses "adjacent" and "opposite"
(You must memorize the 3 main trig ratios !!!)

Did you picke:
tan15° = x/1500
x = 1500tan15°
= appr 401.9 ft

but the sub was already 250 ft deep, so the new depth is 651.9 ft

Answer 2

15