Question

right triangle trigonometry - sohcahtoa
right triangle trigonometry relates the sides of a right triangle to the angle measures of the two acute angles.
calculate the value for x.
answer (round to 1 decimal): x = (ie 1.2 or 16.0)

Explanation:

Step1: Identify trigonometric ratio

We use $\tan\theta=\frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{adjacent}}$. Here $\theta = 51^{\circ}$, opposite side is $20$ and adjacent side is $x$. So $\tan(51^{\circ})=\frac{20}{x}$.

Step2: Solve for $x$

$x=\frac{20}{\tan(51^{\circ})}$. Since $\tan(51^{\circ})\approx1.2349$, then $x=\frac{20}{1.2349}\approx16.2$.

Answer:

16.2