An aircraft 3200 feet above ground begins a two-degree descent when it nears the airport. How many miles (1 mile = 5280 feet) is the aircraft from the airport? Round the answer to the nearest mile. (Hint: Draw a picture to help visualize the problem.)
Added by Inmaculada P.
Step 1
First, we need to find out how far the aircraft is from the airport when it begins its descent. We can use the Pythagorean theorem to do this. Let's call the distance from the airport to the point directly below the aircraft "x". Then, we have: x^2 + 3200^2 = Show more…
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