If you descend at 3 degrees for 2 miles, how many feet will you descend?

If you descend at 3 degrees for 2 miles, how many feet will you descend?

• A. 600 feet
• B. 300 feet
• C. 900 feet
• D. 1200 feet

Answer: (A)

Descent angle tells you how much vertical change you lose for a given horizontal distance. For a 3-degree descent over 2 miles, the vertical drop is horizontal distance times the tangent of the angle: drop ≈ 2 miles × tan(3°). tan(3°) ≈ 0.0524, and 2 miles is 10560 feet. So drop ≈ 10560 × 0.0524 ≈ 553 feet. That’s about 550 feet, so the closest available option is 600 feet. For reference, the drop per mile is roughly 5280 × 0.0524 ≈ 277 feet, which over two miles gives about 554 feet. The other numbers are farther from this calculated drop.

Descent angle tells you how much vertical change you lose for a given horizontal distance. For a 3-degree descent over 2 miles, the vertical drop is horizontal distance times the tangent of the angle: drop ≈ 2 miles × tan(3°). tan(3°) ≈ 0.0524, and 2 miles is 10560 feet. So drop ≈ 10560 × 0.0524 ≈ 553 feet. That’s about 550 feet, so the closest available option is 600 feet. For reference, the drop per mile is roughly 5280 × 0.0524 ≈ 277 feet, which over two miles gives about 554 feet. The other numbers are farther from this calculated drop.