Question

Sam sees a rocket traveling straight up at an angle of elevation of 24 degrees. If Sam is located 5 miles from the rocket Launchpad, how high is the rocket?

Answer 1

Given :

Angle of elevation, Ф = 24°.

Distance of Sam from launchpad, D = 5 miles.

To Find :

How high is the rocket.

Solution :

Let, height is h.

We know, tan Ф is given by :

$tan \ \phi=\dfrac{h}{d}\\\\tan \ 24^{\circ}=\dfrac{h}{5}\\\\h = 5\times tan \ 24^{\circ}\\\\h = 2.226 \ miles$

Hence, this is the required solution.