Answer:
Approximately 485 meters
Step-by-step explanation:
We can first construct a right triangle, using the 500 m length of hill as our hypotenuse. Using the fact that the cosine of an angle is the ratio of the adjacent side to the hypotenuse, we see that
[tex]\cos{15^\circ}=\frac{x}{500}[/tex]
where x is the horizontal distance covered. Solving for x, we find this horizontal distance to be
[tex]x=500\cos{15^\circ}\approx500(0.97)=485[/tex]
so our answer is approximately 485 m.
