Question

The angle of elevation from the top of a house to a jet flying 2 miles above the house is x radians. If d represents the horizontal distance, in miles, of the jet from the house, express d in terms of a trigonometric function of x.

Answer 1

Answer:

d = 2cot(x) or d = 2/tan(x)

Step-by-step explanation:

The vertical distance from the jet to the top of the house represents the opposite side to the 'x' angle, while the horizontal distance, d, represents the adjacent side. Since we do not know the hypotenuse, the tangent and cotangent functions are the preferable choices:

$tan (x) = \frac{2}{d}\\d = \frac{2}{tan (x) }\\cot (x) = \frac{d}{2} \\d= 2cot(x)$

Therefore, the distance 'd' can be expressed as d = 2cot(x) or d = 2/tan(x).