Answer:
3.1 miles
Explanation:
To solve this question it is important to remember that the distance between two mile markers is approximately 1 mile
Once this is known, the question becomes very easy to solve. We make two triangle, which have the following three points
Triangle 1: Hot-Air-Balloon, Ground, Milepost 1 - With angle of depression 20
Triangle 2: Hot-Air-Balloon, Ground, Milepost 2 - With angle of depression 18
As a reminder, the angle of depression is simply the angle the balloonist's head makes with the horizontal plane to be able to see the milepost.
From this we can simply drive two formulas using the Tan function
Equation 1 - [tex]Tan(90-18) = \frac{b+1}{h}[/tex]
Equation 2 - [tex]Tan(90-20) = \frac{b}{h}[/tex]
Solving them simultaneously we get the value of height (h) to be 3.0852 miles or 3.1 miles
