Math  /  Geometry

QuestionBrian and Lashonda are standing on a riverbank, 180 meters apart, at points AA and BB respectively. (See the figure below.) They want to know the distance from Español
Brian to a house located across the river at point CC. Brian measures angle AA (angle BACB A C ) to be 4949^{\circ}, and Lashonda measures angle BB (angle ABCA B C ) to be 7373^{\circ}. What is the distance from Brian to the house? Round your answer to the nearest tenth of a meter. \square meters

Studdy Solution

STEP 1

What is this asking? We need to find out how far Brian is from a house across the river, using the angles they measured and the distance between Brian and Lashonda. Watch out! Don't forget to use the Law of Sines correctly, and make sure to round your final answer to the nearest tenth!

STEP 2

1. Understand the triangle
2. Apply the Law of Sines
3. Solve for the distance

STEP 3

Alright, let's picture this: Brian and Lashonda are standing on the riverbank, and the house is across the river.
We've got a triangle here, with points AA, BB, and CC.
Brian is at AA, Lashonda is at BB, and the house is at CC.
The distance between AA and BB is **180 meters**.

STEP 4

We know angle AA is 4949^\circ and angle BB is 7373^\circ.
To find angle CC, we use the fact that the sum of angles in a triangle is 180180^\circ.
So, we calculate:
C=1804973C = 180^\circ - 49^\circ - 73^\circ

STEP 5

Plugging in the numbers, we find:
C=58C = 58^\circ

STEP 6

The Law of Sines tells us that the ratio of the length of a side to the sine of its opposite angle is the same for all sides of a triangle.
So, we have:
asinA=bsinB=csinC\frac{a}{\sin A} = \frac{b}{\sin B} = \frac{c}{\sin C}where aa, bb, and cc are the sides opposite angles AA, BB, and CC respectively.

STEP 7

We want to find the distance from Brian to the house, which is side bb (opposite angle BB).
We know:
- a=180a = 180 meters (distance between Brian and Lashonda) - sinA=sin49\sin A = \sin 49^\circ - sinB=sin73\sin B = \sin 73^\circ

STEP 8

Using the Law of Sines, we set up the equation:
180sin58=bsin73\frac{180}{\sin 58^\circ} = \frac{b}{\sin 73^\circ}

STEP 9

Let's solve for bb by multiplying both sides by sin73\sin 73^\circ:
b=180sin73sin58b = \frac{180 \cdot \sin 73^\circ}{\sin 58^\circ}

STEP 10

Now, let's plug in the values for the sines:
- sin730.9563\sin 73^\circ \approx 0.9563 - sin580.8480\sin 58^\circ \approx 0.8480

STEP 11

Substitute these into the equation:
b=1800.95630.8480b = \frac{180 \cdot 0.9563}{0.8480}

STEP 12

Calculate the value:
b172.1340.8480203.0b \approx \frac{172.134}{0.8480} \approx 203.0

STEP 13

The distance from Brian to the house is approximately **203.0 meters**.

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