Trigonometry

Memecakes · #1 Feb 22, 2008, 11:47 AM

I need help answering this trigonometry word problem:

The angle of elevation from a buoy to the top of a bridge is 19 degrees. The bridge is 150 feet high. How far from the foot of the bridge's pillar is the buoy?

I used tangent to try to solve it and got 51.6, but my answer book gives me 435.67. Please tell me what steps I am missing

eeseely · Feb 22, 2008, 12:06 PM

Try it another way:

The sine of 19 degrees is 0.325568154 and
height of the bridge is 150 feet.

Divide 150 by the sine of 19 degrees
will give you the correct answer = 460.733023

eeseely · Feb 23, 2008, 04:42 AM

I did make a mistake and stand corrected. I'm an older person.



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