How do I solve the problem given here? A kite is 120 ft high when 650 ft of string was out. What angle does the kite make with the ground, assuming that the string is directly tethered to the ground?

1 Answer
Feb 6, 2018

#theta = 106°#

Explanation:

The string, the height of the kite and the horizontal distance along to ground to a point directly below the kite can be seen as a right-angled triangle.

The string is the hypotenuse (#650ft#) and the height (#120ft#) is the opposite side.

We can use the trig ratio #sin # to find the angle between the string and the ground.

#sin theta = "opposite"/"hypotenuse"#

#sin theta = 120/650 = 0.1846#

Finding #arcsin 0.1846# with a calculator or from tables will give the angle.

#theta = sin^-1(0.1846) = 10.6°#