i want diagram
a pilot flying an aeroplane at altitude of 1800m observes that two ships are sailing towards it in the opposite directions. the angle of depression of the ships as observed from the aeroplane are 60 and 30 gegree respectively find the distance between the two ships?

Question

i want diagram
a pilot flying an aeroplane at altitude of 1800m observes that two ships are sailing towards it in the opposite directions. the angle of depression of the ships as observed from the aeroplane are 60 and 30 gegree respectively find the distance between the two ships?

anonymous · Answer

|dw:1362776509501:dw|

johnweldon1993 · Answer

|dw:1362776522061:dw|

so to find the distance between the 2 boats you do

tan(30) 1800/a + tan(60) 1800/a

so

1800/tan(30) + 1800/tan(60)

I get 4156.9m

correct me if im wrong

anonymous · Answer

but your answer is not correct
@johnweldon1993

johnweldon1993 · Answer

really? hmm...any idea what I did wrong? tan is opposite side / adjacent side...and we want adjacent...so algebra turns it into 1800 / tan(30) and 1800 / tan(60)

that would solve each boat's distance to the plane...so they should be added...

What did I do wrong?

anonymous · Answer

i don't know, but answer is 2400 underroot 3