Answer:
a = 1
Step-by-step explanation:
1. distribute the -6 on the left into the parentheses. you should get -36a + 30.
2. on the side right of the =, distribute the -2 to get -16 + 10a.
now it should look like -36a + 30 = -16 + 10a.
3. move the terms over to isolate the a value. subtract 30 to the right side to get -46 (-36a=-46+10a)
4. move the 10a on the right to the left by subtracting it to the other side.
(-46a=-46)
5.divide by -46 to get a=1
Drawing a diagram of a triangle may be helpful. The hypotenuse is irrelevant, but the vertical leg and the horizontal leg are useful. Since we know the engineer is looking up at a 45 degree angle from a distance of 200 feet, we can label the vertical leg the "opposite", since it is on the opposite side of the angle we are given. The horizontal leg then becomes the "adjacent". You can then use trigonometry to solve for the opposite.
The options are:
sin(theta)= opposite/hypotenuse
cos(theta)= adjacent/hypotenuse
tan(theta)= opposite/adjacent
Since we don't care about the hypotenuse, the last equation is the one to use. The angle we are given can be substituted in for theta:
tan(45)= x/200
1.61977519= x/200
x= 323.955038 feet
What is it about, I’ll give it a try
In -2x

, the exponent will be dealt with first. With (-2x)

, the multiplication is going to be done first. This is determined because of Order of operations.
To solve any algebraic equation, we want to get x by itself. Here, x is accompanied by 3.6. So that means we have to get rid of 3.6. To get rid of 3.6, one can either subtract 3.6 from both sides or add -3.6 to each side.