A bird catches a fish and flies 100 yards in a straight line at an angle of elevation x° from the ground. After flying for 100 yards, the bird drops the fish. The fish lands at a spot y yards horizontally from where the bird caught it. What is x?

Question

anonymous · Answer

cos^-1   y/100
sin^-1    y/100
tan^-1    y/100
cos^-1    100/y
sin^-1     100/y

cwrw238 · Answer

|dw:1400266175495:dw|

cwrw238 · Answer

Hint:  Cos x = y/100

cwrw238 · Answer

- so x is the angle whose cosine is y/100

anonymous · Answer

so am i trying to find the short leg and the long one?

cwrw238 · Answer

no you are trying to find the angle x in terms of  the distance y

Cos^-1 means 'the angle whose cosine is'

anonymous · Answer

how would i plug it in a calculator. sorry im just really stumped

anonymous · Answer

is the hyp divided by radical 3?

cwrw238 · Answer

you dont need to use your calculator the answer is one of the expressions you listed
your calculator wont give you an answer anyway because you are not given enough numerical values

anonymous · Answer

so its the first one. cos^-1   y/100

cwrw238 · Answer

I've more or less told you the answer Study what I've written. 
which oine of the 5 options  is it?

anonymous · Answer

Cos^-1 100/y