Problema Solution
a yardstick, held vertically on a level surface, cast a shadow 1 foot 5 inch long. Find the tangent of the angles that the rays of the sun make with the horizontal.
Answer provided by our tutors
First we will convert yards and feet to inches:
1 ft = 12 in
1 yd = 3 ft
1 yd = 3*12 in
1 yd = 36 in
1 ft 5 in = 12 + 5 = 17 in
Next we use trigonometry and the right triangle that the stick, the stick's shadow and the rays of sun make:
tan α = 36/17
tan α = 2.12