Question

3. A fire truck is parked twelve feet
from a burning building. If the fire
hose is aimed at a 37 degree angle to
reach a fire, how far off the ground is
the fire burning?

Answer 1

Answer: 9.04 feet

Step-by-step explanation:

First, it is important to draw a Right triangle, as the one attached, where "x" represents the height in feet from the ground in which the fire is burning.

In this case you need to use the following Trigonometric Identity:

$tan\alpha =\frac{opposite}{adjacent}$

You can identify that:

$\alpha=37\°\\\\ opposite=x\\\\adjacent=12$

Therefore, you can substitute values into $tan\alpha =\frac{opposite}{adjacent}$:

$tan(37\°)=\frac{x}{12}$

Finally, you must solve for "x" in order to find its value. You get that this is:

$12*tan(37\°)=x\\\\x=9.04$