Question

A plane is flying at an elevation of 10,000 feet spots a flight tower on the ground at an angle of depression of 32 degrees. If the plane is flying at 600 feet per second , and the plane continues at the same elevation , how long will it take the plane to fly over the flight tower?

Answer 1

Answer:

10.41 second

Step-by-step explanation:

consider the simplified diagram summarizing this case in the image.

since we know the speed of the plane already, we also need to know the distance that needs to be traveled, in order to calculate time. :

speed= dist/time

the distance that is to be known is the distance from the plane to the verticle point above the tower. this distance in the diagram is basically TG

to deduce this you can use the formula : TAN (theta) = opposite/ adjacent

so,

tan 32 = TG / 10,000

solve for TG '

TG = 6248.7 ft.

now that you've found the distance you can insert it in the equation: s = d/t

600 ft/s = 6248.7/t

solve for time 't'

t = 6248.7/600

t = 10.414...