A squirrel in a long glide typically covers a horizontal distance of 16 m while losing 8.0 m in altitude. during this glide, what is the angle of the squirrel's path below the horizontal?

Let the starting position be A, and the ending position of the glide be B.

The triangle ABC shown in the figure, is a right triangle with side lengths 16m and 0.8 m.

The angle of the squirrel's path below the horizon is BAC.

Using right triangle trigonometry:

tan (ABC) = (opposite side) / (adjacent side) = 0.8/16=0.05

to find m (ABC) we calculate arctan (0.05) which is 2.86°

Answer: 2.86°