Question

Soren is flying a kite on the beach. The string forms a 45 degree angle with the ground. If he has let out 16

meters of line, how high above the ground is the kite? Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a meter.

Answer 1

Answer: 11 m

Explanation:

We can solve this with the trigonometric function sine if we imagine there is a right triangle formed, where the hypotenuse is the length of the kite string and the triangle's opposite side is the height
`H` of the kite above ground.

Then:

`cos(45\°)=(opposite-side)/(hypotenuse)=(H)/(16 m)`

Isolating
`H`:

`H=cos(45\°) (16 m)`

Finally:

`H=11.31 m \approx 11 m`