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Memecakes
Feb 22, 2008, 01:47 PM
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, 02:06 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

galactus
Feb 22, 2008, 03:55 PM
Just use the law of tangents. The correct answer is 435.63

\frac{150}{tan(19)}=150cot(19)=435.63

eeseely
Feb 23, 2008, 06:42 AM
I did make a mistake and stand corrected. I'm an older person.