Jasmine is flying a kite. She lets out 86 feet of string. She takes the kite into the ground and measures the angle. The string forms a 47° angle with the ground. Which expression could be used to determine how high above the ground the kite is flying?

Question

A) 86 cos 47°
B) 86 sin 47°
C) cos 47°/86
D) sin 47°/86

Answer 1

If we draw a picture of a right triangle where the hypotenuse (longest side) is the 86ft of string and the height of the kite of the ground is directly opposite to the given angle of 47°, then we use the sine function where sin(θ)=opposite/hypotenuse

Therefore, sin(47°)=x/86 will be the equation to determine the height of the kite from the ground. Solving for x, the height, we get x=86sin(47°), which makes option B correct.