An airplane pilot sights a life raft at a 26° angle of depression. The airplane's altitude

is 3 km. What is the airplane's surface distance d from the raft? Round your answer

to the nearest whole number.

A 5 Km

B 6 Km

C 4 km

D 3 Km

Choice B. 6 km.

Step-by-step explanation:

We see this is a right triangle.

The height of this right triangle is 3 km and the angle adjacent to the height leg of the triangle is (90 - 26) degrees = 64 degrees.

We want the distance d which is the leg opposite 64 degrees.

tan 64 = d / 3 km;

d = 3 * tan 64 = 3 * 2.0503038 km = 6.1509 km