A submarine is getting ready to dive below the surface of the water at an angle of depression of 40 degrees. It will be at a depth of 2000 feet when it is finished with its dive. What will be the horizontal distance traveled when it's finished it's dive?

Respuesta :

Answer:

1678 feet

Step-by-step explanation:

In this problem, the submarine travels at an angle of depression of 40 degrees, and it reaches a depth of 2000 feet when it is finished with the dive.

Therefore, we can call:

[tex]d=2000 ft[/tex] the vertical distance covered by the submarine

[tex]h[/tex] = the horizontal distance travelled by the submarine

[tex]\theta=40^{\circ}[/tex] is the angle of depression

By analzying the situation, we notice that d and h represent the two sides of a right triangle.

Therefore, we can write the following equation:

[tex]tan \theta = \frac{h}{d}[/tex]

Since h is the side opposite to the angle and d is the side adjacent to the angle.

The equation can be rewritten as

[tex]h=d tan \theta[/tex]

And by substituting the values, we find:

[tex]h=(2000)(tan 40^{\circ})=1678 ft[/tex]