## anonymous one year ago Tan 43 = 5/x?

1. anonymous

Do i multiply the tangent of 43 by 5? Or do i divide?

2. campbell_st

then making x the subject you can say $x = \frac{5}{\tan(43)}$

3. anonymous

i got -3.33692088177

4. campbell_st

well I think you have a calculation error.. make sure the screen of you calculator is showing a small D for degrees and its simply $5 \div \tan(43) =$

5. anonymous

im still getting the same answer.

6. anonymous

Heres the question that this question went with.. maybe im missing something. in triangle def fe = 5 and m d = 43. Find DE to the nearest tenth, assuming that its a right triangle |dw:1443133790539:dw|

7. campbell_st

I understand the question but you are finding a length, and posted a negative value as your answer... which is a significant error I know tan(45) = 1 so the answer for x should be a little but more that 5... probably around 5.4 at a guess

8. anonymous

alright

9. campbell_st

so just make sure the calculator is set for degrees... there are normally 3 angle measures... just check for the D before calculating