Question

Melissa sees a lighthouse from her sailboat. She knows the height of the lighthouse is 154 feet. She uses a measuring device and determines that the angle to the top of the lighthouse from her boat is 35°. How far is the sailboat from the base of the lighthouse?

Answer 1

219.9 ft

Explanation:

After looking at pic, cross multiply to get x tan(35)=154

then divide both sides by tan(35) giving x=154/tan(35)

x is approximately 219.9 ft

Answer 2

219.9 feet to the nearest tenth.

Explanation:

Use trigonometry:

tan 35 = opposite / adjacent side

= 154/x

x = 154 / tan35

= 219.93