Question

When gold medalist Ren Qian prepared for her dive from the 10 meter platform during the

Olympics, she looked out at her family sitting on the front row (level with the pool) at a 20°

angle of depression. How far away was Ren from her family (ground distance)? Round to the

nearest tenth of a meter.

Write answer like this: ##.# m.

(5 Points)

Enter your answer

Answer 1

Ren was 27.5 meters away from her family.

Explanation:

Ren Qian was at a height of 10 meters to the ground. Let the distance from her vertical point on the ground to her family (i.e the ground distance) be represented by x.

But the angle of depression is measured with respect to the horizontal plane, so;

the vertical angle =
`90^(o)` - 20°

=
`70^(o)`

Applying the appropriate trigonometric function, we have;

Tan θ =
`(opposite)/(adjacent)`

Tan
`70^(o)` =
`(x)/(10)`

⇒ x = 10 x Tan
`70^(o)`

= 10 x 2.7475

= 27.475

x = 27.5 meters

Ren was 27.5 meters away from her family.