By applying the law of cosine, the smallest angle which the swimmers must turn between the buoys is 41.4°.
In order to determine the smallest angle which the swimmers must turn between the buoys, we would apply the law of cosine.
Given the following data:
Form the law of cosine, we have:
[tex]CosC =\frac{a^2 + b^2 - c^2}{2ab} \\\\CosC =\frac{500^2 + 600^2 - 400^2}{2 \times 500 \times 600}\\\\CosC =\frac{450000}{600000}\\\\C = cos^{-1} 0.75\\\\[/tex]
C = 41.4°.
For angle B, we have:
[tex]CosB =\frac{a^2 + c^2 - b^2}{2ac} \\\\CosB =\frac{500^2 + 400^2 - 600^2}{2 \times 500 \times 400}\\\\CosB =\frac{1}{8}\\\\B = cos^{-1} 0.125\\\\[/tex]
B = 82.8°.
For angle A, we have:
[tex]CosA =\frac{b^2 + c^2 - a^2}{2bc} \\\\CosA =\frac{600^2 + 400^2 - 500^2}{2 \times 600 \times 400}\\\\CosA =\frac{9}{16}\\\\A = cos^{-1} 0.5625\\\\[/tex]
A = 55.8°.
Read more on law of cosine here: https://brainly.com/question/27613782
#SPJ1
