Question

WILL REWARD

A beam rests against a wall, forming a 65 degree with the floor. Use the function y=9sec theta to find the length of the beam to the nearest tenth of a foot.

A. 8.2 ft
B. 21.3 ft
C. 9.9 ft
D. 18.7 ft

Answer 1

How secant relates to the sides of a right triangle:
\[Sec(\theta) = \frac{1}{Cos(\theta)}= \frac{Hypotenuse}{Adjacent}\]

Therefore:
Hypotenuse = Adjacent * sec( theta )

When we draw a picture, we see that the angle given to us is the correct angle.
So, we simply put the 65 degree angle in for theta, and get our answer out :)

What is 9 * sec(65)?

Answer 2

I got 10.986

Answer 3

@Vandreigan

Answer 4

That's not quite what I get.

Answer 5

Shouldn't be 9cos(65)?

Answer 6

@Vandreigan

Answer 7

Not cos. We don't know the length of the ladder, as I'm understanding the question. That's what we want to find out.

Answer 8

Okay i got 21.29 for 9*sec(65)

Answer 9

That's the setup of the question, as I'm reading it :)