An airplane pilot over the Pacific sights an atoll at an angle of depression of 7°

At this time, the horizontal distance from the airplane to the atoll is 3,729 meters.
3,667 meters
458 meters
3,701 meters
454 meters

1 answer

The correct answer is 3,701 meters.

To find the horizontal distance from the airplane to the atoll, we can use trigonometry.
Let x be the horizontal distance.
tan(7°) = height of atoll / x
tan(7°) = 454 / x
x = 454 / tan(7°)
x ≈ 3,701 meters

Therefore, the horizontal distance from the airplane to the atoll is approximately 3,701 meters.