A zipline starts 25 feet off the ground and has an angle of elevation of 27° . What is the horizontal distance the zipline will cover, x?(1 point)

Responses

1 answer

To find the horizontal distance \( x \) that the zipline will cover, we can use trigonometry, specifically the tangent function. Given that the height of the zipline is 25 feet and the angle of elevation is 27°, we can use the following relationship:

\[ \tan(\theta) = \frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{adjacent}} \]

In this case, the opposite side is the height of the zipline (25 feet) and the adjacent side is the horizontal distance \( x \). Therefore, we can set up the equation:

\[ \tan(27°) = \frac{25}{x} \]

To solve for \( x \), we can rearrange this equation:

\[ x = \frac{25}{\tan(27°)} \]

Now, we need to calculate \( \tan(27°) \):

\[ \tan(27°) \approx 0.5095 \]

Now plug this value into the equation:

\[ x = \frac{25}{0.5095} \approx 49.1 \text{ feet} \]

Thus, the horizontal distance the zipline will cover is approximately 49.1 feet.