Plane Circling an airport.

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  • A plane is going in circle around an airport the plane takes $3$ minutes to complete one round.

  • The angle of elevation of the plane from point $p$ on the ground at time $t$ seconds is equal to that at time $(t+30)$ seconds.

  • At time $(t+x)$ seconds the plane flies vertically above the point $p$.

What is $x$ equal to?

I have tried using basic trig, but that doesn't helps, may be there is some use of circle chord or something.

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Here is how to proceed:

  • Assume, at time t, the plane is at the point A on the circle.

  • After 30s, the plane arrives at the point B. Because it takes 180s to fly the full 360° circle, the arc A to B spans 60°.

  • Let C be the point on the circle when the plane is directly above p. Then, AC = BC due to the same elevation angles. So, ∆ABC is an isosceles triangle inscribing the circle.

  • Thus, from A to C, the plane flies an arc of 150°+60° = 210°, or 7/12 (210°/360°) of a full circle.

  • Therefore, $x$ = (7/12)$\cdot$180s = 105s.

The other possibility is that the point C lies midway along the path AB, the 60°-arc. In this case, the arc AC spans 60°/2 = 30° and $x$ = 15s.

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