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I really need help on this practice geometry problem. I'm required to list all of the steps and show the full work. Please help?

 

Marc is hiking a trail in a canyon. At one point, he stops and looks up to see another hiker on top of a cliff. Marc estimates that he is 90 feet away from the bottom of the cliff that the hiker is on top of. Marc also estimates that the angle of elevation from where he is on the ground to the hiker on top of the cliff is 48 degrees. Assuming the estimates are correct, what would be the distance of a straight line drawn from where Marc is standing on the ground directly up to the hiker on top of the cliff? Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a foot.

 

Thanks!!

 May 9, 2019

Best Answer 

 #1
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Use right triangle trig properties    SOHCAHTOA

 

One leg is 90  (this is the ADJACENT leg to the 48 degrees)

 

The 'straight line' will be the hypotenuse of the right triangle and the distance you are looking for.....

 

cos 48 = adj  /hyp

cos 48 = 90/hyp         Solve for hyp.

 

 

 

(Thanx, Chris for pointing out my error......I was reading 90 ft as the height of the cliff.....it is the ditance to the base of the cliff!  D'Oh!)  

 May 9, 2019
edited by ElectricPavlov  May 10, 2019
 #1
avatar+36915 
0
Best Answer

Use right triangle trig properties    SOHCAHTOA

 

One leg is 90  (this is the ADJACENT leg to the 48 degrees)

 

The 'straight line' will be the hypotenuse of the right triangle and the distance you are looking for.....

 

cos 48 = adj  /hyp

cos 48 = 90/hyp         Solve for hyp.

 

 

 

(Thanx, Chris for pointing out my error......I was reading 90 ft as the height of the cliff.....it is the ditance to the base of the cliff!  D'Oh!)  

ElectricPavlov May 9, 2019
edited by ElectricPavlov  May 10, 2019

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