By using trigonometric relations, we see that the horizontal distance is 196.6.
Remember the relation:
tan(a) = (opposite cathetus)/(adjacent cathetus).
In this case, the adjacent cathetus is the horizontal distance between the towers, the opposite cathetus is 40, and the angle is 11.5°.
Then we can write:
tan(11.5°) = 40/x
Solving for x:
x = 40/tan(11.5°)
This is the equation that you got, and it gives:
x = 40/tan(11.5°) = 196.6
Why you don't get this?
The problem may be that your calculator is in radians instead of degrees. It should say "DEG" instead of "RAD" if you want to evaluate trigonometric functions in degrees.
If you want to learn more about right triangles:
https://brainly.com/question/2217700
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