Jermaine and John are standing 10 meters apart looking up at a helicopter. Use the diagram to find the height of the helicopter. Round your answer to the nearest tenth.
tan 55 = h / x rearrage as
x = h / tan 55
And
tan 48 = h / (10 + x)
tan 48 = h / ( 10 + h / tan 55)
(10 + h / tan 55) ( tan 48) = h
10 tan 48 + h ( tan 48 / tan 55) = h
10 tan 48 = h ( 1 - tan 48 / tan 55)
h = 10*tan 48 / ( 1 - tan 48 / tan 55) ≈ 50 m
