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.

Question

sburchette · Answer

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.
$$\sin 40=70/x$$
$$x=70/\sin 40$$
$$x \approx108.9$$