Answer: 10 ft
Explanation
As two right triangles (a triangle with a 90º angle) are formed, to know the distance between AB we have to calculate BC, AC and subtract.
0. Calculating BC
We have a 30º angle and an adjacent side 5√3ft (as the hypotenuse is the side opposite to the 90º angle). Thus, using the tangent function where:
we can find the opposite side, which is BC. Replacing the values and simplifying we get:
Thus, the segment BC measures 5ft.
<em>2. Calculating segment AC</em>.
In this case, our hypotenuse changes. However, we are still looking for the opposite side. Using the tangent function as before we get:
<em>3. Calculating the distance between A and B</em>