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27. Aviation A plane is flying at an elevation of 10,000 meters and a speed of 300 kilometers per hour. The pilot sees a lake at an angle of depression of \( 60^{\circ} \). In how much time, to the nearest minute, will the plane be directly over the lake?

Ask by Grant Mccarthy. in the United States
Feb 25,2025

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Tutor-Verified Answer

Answer

The plane will be directly over the lake in about 1 minute.

Solution

We begin by drawing a right triangle, where the plane’s altitude (10,000 m) is the vertical leg and the horizontal distance from the point on the ground directly beneath the plane to the lake is the horizontal leg. The pilot’s line of sight to the lake makes an angle of depression of 60° from the horizontal, which means the same angle appears as the angle of elevation from the lake. Let x represent the horizontal distance. Using the tangent function, we have:   tan(60°) = (altitude) / (x) Since tan(60°) = √3, we can solve for x:   √3 = 10,000 m / x  ⟹  x = 10,000 m / √3   x ≈ 10,000 / 1.732 ≈ 5773.5 m Next, convert the plane’s speed from kilometers per hour to meters per minute. Given that the plane flies at 300 km/h:   300 km/h = 300,000 m / 60 min = 5000 m/min Now, calculate the time required to cover the horizontal distance:   Time = distance / speed ≈ 5773.5 m / 5000 m/min ≈ 1.1547 minutes Rounding to the nearest minute, the time is approximately 1 minute. Thus, the plane will be directly over the lake in about 1 minute.

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To find out how long it will take for the plane to be directly over the lake, we first need to determine the horizontal distance from the plane to the lake at an elevation of 10,000 meters and an angle of depression of \( 60^{\circ} \). Using the tangent of the angle of depression, we can set up the equation: \[ \tan(60^{\circ}) = \frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{adjacent}} = \frac{10,000}{d} \] Where \( d \) is the horizontal distance. Since \( \tan(60^{\circ}) = \sqrt{3} \), the equation becomes: \[ \sqrt{3} = \frac{10,000}{d} \] Rearranging gives: \[ d = \frac{10,000}{\sqrt{3}} \approx 5773.50 \text{ meters} \] Now, to find the time it takes for the plane to cover this horizontal distance at a speed of 300 km/h, we first convert the speed to meters per second: \[ 300 \text{ km/h} = \frac{300,000 \text{ meters}}{3600 \text{ seconds}} \approx 83.33 \text{ m/s} \] Now, we can find the time \( t \): \[ t = \frac{d}{\text{speed}} = \frac{5773.50}{83.33} \approx 69.28 \text{ seconds} \] Finally, converting seconds to minutes gives: \[ t \approx 1.15 \text{ minutes} \] Rounding to the nearest minute, the time for the plane to be directly over the lake is approximately **1 minute**.

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