<span>The two fires are about 70 feet from each other.
The assumption is that the ground is relatively level and that a right triangle will be made with the three points of the triangle being the ranger, the spot on the ground directly beneath the ranger, and the fire itself. So the distance to the first fire will be:
Calculate the angle. That will be 90° - 11.6° = 78.4°
The distance will be
tan(78.4) = X/60
60 tan(78.4) = X
60 * 4.871620136 = X
292.2972082 = X
And that's how far the 1st fire is from the ranger's station. Now for the 2nd
angle = 90° - 9.4° = 80.6°
60 tan(80.6) = X
60 * 6.040510327 = X
362.4306196 = X
And the distance between the two fires will be the difference in distance from the tower, so
362.4306196 - 292.2972082 = 70.13341146
Rounding to 2 significant figures gives 70 feet.</span>
If you subtract Betty's time for the swim, 27.948 seconds, from Nancy's time, 28.004 seconds, you will find that Betty was faster than Nancy by 0.056 seconds. She would be considered the winner of the 50-meter freestyle swim.
