A person standing on top of a 20-foot high sand pile wishes to estimate the width of the pile. He visually locates two rocks on the ground below at the base of the sand pile. The rocks are on opposite sides of the sand pile, and he and the two rocks are in the same vertical plane. If the angles of depression from the top of the sand pile to each of the rocks are 24° and 19°, how far apart are the rocks?
Ratios
A ratio is a comparison between two numbers of the same kind. It represents how many times one number contains another. It also represents how small or large one number is compared to the other.
Trigonometric Ratios
Trigonometric ratios give values of trigonometric functions. It always deals with triangles that have one angle measuring 90 degrees. These triangles are right-angled. We take the ratio of sides of these triangles.
Solve the following problem. Be sure to make a diagram of the situation with all the given information labeled.
A person standing on top of a 20-foot high sand pile wishes to estimate the width of the pile. He visually locates two rocks on the ground below at the base of the sand pile. The rocks are on opposite sides of the sand pile, and he and the two rocks are in the same vertical plane. If the
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