Question

A kite is flying 70 feet above the ground and is attached to a string tied to a stake on the ground. The angle of elevation formed by the string and the ground is 40°. Find the length of the string to the nearest foot.

Answer 1

This can be set up as a right triangle where 70 is the side opposite of the 40 degree angle and x is the unknown hypotenuse. Having the side opposite and hypotenuse, we should use the sine ratio.
\[\sin 40=70/x\]
\[x=70/\sin 40\]
\[x \approx108.9\]