Why isnt it 120xsin(80)?

[tawny garden]

take a look at the triangle SYX

cos(x) = adjacent/hypotenuse

your adjacent here is XY, the distance that you want

hypotenuse here would be SY, 120 kms

[shut hill]

but how come if your finding the opposite side it isnt opposite/hypotonuse

[tawny garden]

youre finding the adjacent side though

XY is the adjacent side, not the opposite

you have to look in terms of the angle, in this case the angle XYS

[shut hill]

i understand where i went wrong i was looking at the wrong triangle

[tawny garden]

[stark vale]

!done

[cinder holly]

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