Hello! I am in an online trigonometry class and we currently have an assignment that asks us to solve this problem. I am slightly confused about it and where to even start. Any assistance on the process to solve this would be so greatly appreciated.
The problem goes as follows:
Two docks are located on an east-west line 2590 feet apart. From dock A, the bearing of a coral reef is 62°24′. From dock B, the bearing of the coral reef is 332°24'. Find the distance from dock A to the coral reef.
The distance from dock A to the coral reef is __ feet. (Round to the nearest integer as needed.)
Thank you for your help in advance. It means alot to me. :)
+128475 A bearing of 62.24° converts to an angle of 90 - 62.24 = 27.76°
And a bearing of 332.24° converts to an angle of 332.24 - 270 = 62.24°
So we have a triangle with angles of 27.76° and 62.24°
And the third angle of the triangle is 180 - 27.76 - 62.24 = 90°
So....we can find the distance from A to the coral reef using the Law of Sines
2590 / sin 90 = D / sin 62.24 where D is the distance we want
2590 / = D / sin 62.24 multiply both sides by sin62.24
2590 * sin 62.24 = D ≈ 2292 ft.
Here's the approximate picture....dock "A" is a (0,0)....the reef is point B...and dock "B" is at point C
