Math  /  Trigonometry

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Bo is flying a kite, holding his hands a distance of 3.5 feet above the ground and letting all the kite's string play out. He measures the angle of elevation from his hand to the kite to be 2929^{\circ}. If the string from the kite to his hand is 110 feet long, how many feet is the kite above the ground? Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a foot if necessary.
Answer Attempt 1 out of 2 \qquad feet Submit Answer

Studdy Solution

STEP 1

What is this asking? How high is a kite if a person is holding the string 3.5 feet off the ground, the string is 110 feet long, and the string makes a 29-degree angle with the ground? Watch out! Don't forget to add the initial height of the hand holding the string!

STEP 2

1. Visualize the problem
2. Find the kite's height relative to the hand
3. Find the kite's total height

STEP 3

Alright, imagine a right triangle!
The string forms the **hypotenuse**, the height of the kite *above the hand* is the **opposite side**, and the distance along the ground is the **adjacent side**.
The angle between the string and the ground is our **29-degree angle**.

STEP 4

We can use the sine function because we know the hypotenuse (110110 feet) and the angle (2929^\circ), and we want to find the opposite side (the height above the hand).
Remember, sine is defined as the ratio of the **opposite side** to the **hypotenuse**.

STEP 5

So, we have sin(29)=oppositehypotenuse\sin(29^\circ) = \frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{hypotenuse}}.
Let's call the opposite side h1h_1, which is the height of the kite above the hand.
Plugging in our values, we get sin(29)=h1110\sin(29^\circ) = \frac{h_1}{110}.

STEP 6

To solve for h1h_1, we **multiply both sides** of the equation by 110110: 110sin(29)=110h1110110 \cdot \sin(29^\circ) = 110 \cdot \frac{h_1}{110}.
This simplifies to h1=110sin(29)h_1 = 110 \cdot \sin(29^\circ).

STEP 7

Now, let's **calculate** h1h_1: h1=110sin(29)1100.484853.33h_1 = 110 \cdot \sin(29^\circ) \approx 110 \cdot 0.4848 \approx 53.33 feet.
So, the kite is approximately **53.33 feet** above the hand holding the string.

STEP 8

We know the kite is 53.3353.33 feet above the hand, and the hand is 3.53.5 feet above the ground.
To find the total height, we simply **add** these two heights together.

STEP 9

Let's call the total height hh.
So, h=h1+3.5h = h_1 + 3.5.
Plugging in the value we found for h1h_1, we get h=53.33+3.5=56.83h = 53.33 + 3.5 = 56.83 feet.

STEP 10

Rounding to the nearest tenth gives us a **final height** of 56.856.8 feet.

STEP 11

The kite is approximately 56.856.8 feet above the ground.

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