Question

The string is 120 feet long and stretched taut. The kite string makes an angle of 70° with the ground. How high above the ground is the kite flying. Show Your Work

Answer 1

Answer:

112.76 feet

Step-by-step explanation:

This is a right triangle trig problem.  We have the length of the string which serves as the hypotenuse of the triangle, and we also have the reference angle (the angle the string makes with the ground) and we are looking for the height of the height, which is also the height of the triangle, which is also the side opposite the reference angle.  So it's our job now to figure out which trig ratio relates the side opposite the reference angle to the hypotenuse.  That's the sin ratio (opposite/hypotenuse).  Set it up like this:

$sin(70)=\frac{x}{120}$

Multiply both sides by 120 and then do the math in degree mode on your calculator.  That gives you that x = 112.7631145

Don't know how many decimal places you need, but there you go!