Question

A staircase has an angle of elevation of 28° anı
covers a total distance of 17 feet. What is the
horizontal length covered by the staircase?

Answer 1

Hi there!

We can use right-triangle trigonometry to solve.

We are given the HYPOTENUSE and ADJACENT sides, so we must use cosine in this instance.

cosθ = Adjacent/Hypotenuse

We can plug in what is given:

cos(28) = A/17

Solve for 'A':

17cos(28) = 15.01 ft