Question

An observer in tower A sees a boat 1538 yd away at an angle of depression of 35°. To the nearest yard, how far is the boat away from an observer in tower B? To the nearest degree, what is the angle of depression to the boat from tower B?
 
A. 1951 yd; 63°
B. 1740 yd; 63°
C. 1740 yd; 27°
D. 1951 yd; 27°

Answer 1

From my own solution, my answer is closest to D. 1951 yd; 27°

The boat is 1951 yards away from the observer in tower B. The angle of depression to the boat from Tower B is 27°.

Pls. see my attachment. 

In it I divided the big triangle into two small right triangles. 
I solved for the common leg of the right triangles by using sin theta formula. sin θ = opposite / hypotenuse

sin 35° = opposite / 1538 yd
sin 35° * 1538 yd = opposite
882.16 yd = opposite

From there, I used the Pythagorean theorem to solve for the missing side which is part of the 3,000 yd measure.

I got the measure of 1,259.86 yards. The remaining measure of 1,740.14 is the side of the other right triangle. 

Still using Pythagorean Theorem, I used the measurement of the known side of the 2nd right triangle to solve for its hypotenuse which was 1,950.97 or 1,951 yards.

With regards to the angle of depression, I used this formula:

tan(y) = opposite / adjacent
tan(y) = 1538 yd / 3000 yd
tan(y) = 0.513
y = 0.513/tan
y = 27.14°