Question

1.) The plane left LaGuardia airport at 3:25pm and about 2 minutes later struck a flock of birds (3:27.11pm).
The plane was 4 miles from LaGuardia airport and was ascending at an angle of 7.7° degrees. Calculate the
plane's height above ground level at the time of the bird strike (a). (4 points)

Answer 1

Answer:

• About 0.5 miles

Explnation

The height of the plane, the point on the ground directly below of the plane, and the inclined path traveled by the plane make a right triangle, with:

• Hypotenuse: inclined path = 4 miles

• Angle with the ground: 7.7º

• Opposite leg to the ascending angle: x

The trigonometric ration sine relates the hypotenuse and the opposite leg of a right triangle:

• sin(angle) = opposite leg / hypotenuse

Substitute, solve for x and compute:

     

      $sin(7.7\º)=\dfrac{x}{4miles}$

       $x=4miles\times sin(7.7\º)$

        $x\approx 0.5359miles\approx0.5miles$