Eternity Christian School and Institute

Precalculus
Applications of Law of Sines and Cosines

Name: ________________________________________ Date: _________________

Mr. David A. Ramos

Solve each Problem

1) Navigation. On a map, Orlando is 178 millimeters due south of Niagara Falls, Denver is 273
millimeters from Orlando, and Denver is 235 millimeters from Niagara Falls.
(a) Find the bearing of Denver from Orlando.
(b) Find the bearing of Denver from Niagara Falls.

2) Streetlight design. Determine the angle 𝜃 in the design of the streetlight shown in the figure.

3) Surveying To find the distance between two points A and B that lie on opposite banks of a
river, a surveyor lays off a line segment AC of length 240 yards along one bank and
determines that the measures of ∠𝐵𝐴𝐶 and ∠𝐴𝐶𝐵 are 63° 20’and 54° 10’, respectively (see
the figure). Approximate the distance between A and B.

4) Positioning a Solar Panel A solar panel with a width of 1.2 m is positioned on a flat roof, as
shown in the figure. What is the angle of elevation 𝛼 of the solar panel?
Eternity Christian School and Institute
Precalculus
Applications of Law of Sines and Cosines

Name: ________________________________________ Date: _________________

Mr. David A. Ramos

Solve each Problem

1) Navigation On a map, Minneapolis is 165 millimeters due west of Albany, Phoenix is 216
millimeters from Minneapolis, and Phoenix is 368 millimeters from Albany (see figure).
(a) Find the bearing of Minneapolis from Phoenix.
(b) Find the bearing of Albany from Phoenix.

2) Firing a Torpedo A submarine sights a moving target at a distance of 820 m. A torpedo is

fired 9° ahead of the target, as shown in the drawing, and travels 924 m in a straight line
to hit the target. How far has the target moved from the time the torpedo is fired to the
time of the hit?

3) Height Because of prevailing winds, a tree grew so that it was leaning 4° from the vertical.
At a point 40 meters from the tree, the angle of elevation to the top of the tree is (see
figure). Find the height of the tree.

4) Angle of elevation A 10-meter utility pole casts a 17-meter shadow directly down a slope
when the angle of elevation of the sun is 42° (see figure). Find 𝜃 the angle of elevation of
the ground.
Eternity Christian School and Institute
Precalculus
Applications of Law of Sines and Cosines

Name: ________________________________________ Date: _________________

Mr. David A. Ramos

Solve each Problem

1) Surveying a Canyon Two markers A and B on the same side of a canyon rim are 80 ft apart,
as shown in the figure. A hiker is located across the rim at point C. A surveyor determines
that ∠𝐵𝐴𝐶 = 70° and ∠𝐴𝐶𝐵 = 65° What is the distance between the hiker and point A?

2) The angle of elevation of the top of a water tower from point A on the ground is 19.9°.
From point B, 50.0 feet closer to the tower, the angle of elevation is 21.8°. What is the height
of the tower?

3) Sighting from a helicopter A helicopter hovers at an altitude that is 1000 feet above a
mountain peak of altitude 5210 feet, as shown in the figure. A second, taller peak is viewed
from both the mountaintop and the helicopter. From the helicopter, the angle of depression
is 43°, and from the mountaintop, the angle of elevation is 18°.
(a) Approximate the distance from peak to peak.
(b) Approximate the altitude of the taller peak.

4) Rescue efforts A child is trapped 45 feet down an abandoned mine shaft that slants at an
angle of 78° from the horizontal. A rescue tunnel is to be dug 50 feet from the shaft opening
(a) At what angle 𝜃 should the tunnel be dug?
(b) If the tunnel can be dug at a rate of 3 ft./hr, how many hours will it take to reach the
child?