Question

An airplane is flying at an elevation of 15,000 feet. The airport is 6 miles away from a point directly below the airplane on the ground. How far is the airplane from the airport?

Answer 1

Answer:

The distance between the airplane and the airport is:

$c=6.64\: miles$

Step-by-step explanation:

We can use the Pythagoras theorem to find the distance from the airplane to the airport.

The equation is:

$c^{2}=a^{2}+b^{2}$

Where:

• a represents the elevations of the airplane (15000 feet)
• b is the distance from the ground directly below the airplane to the airport (6 miles)
• c  is the distance between the airplane and the airport.

We need first to convert 15000 feet in miles.

$15000\: feet \times \frac{0.00019\: miles}{1\: feet}=2.85\: miles$

Therefore, c will be:

$c^{2}=a^{2}+b^{2}$

$c=\sqrt{a^{2}+b^{2}}$

$c=\sqrt{2.85^{2}+6^{2}}$

$c=6.64\: miles$

I hope it helps you!