A plane is 52 miles west and 46 miles north of an airport.The pilot wants to fly directly to the airport.What bearing should the pilot take? Answer should be given in degrees and minutes.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To find the bearing, we calculate the angle using the tangent function, where tan(θ) = opposite/adjacent = 46/52. Solving for θ gives us the angle from the eastward direction, but bearings are measured clockwise from the north. Thus, we need to calculate 180° - θ to get the bearing from the north in a southward direction. The correct calculation leads to a bearing of approximately 131° 30'.

A Plane Is 52 Miles West and 46 Miles North 131∘30′131 ^ { \circ } 30 ^ { \prime }131∘30′

A Plane Is 52 Miles West and 46 Miles North $131 ^ { \circ } 30 ^ { \prime }$