Taken out in the biting cold: Trigonometry and Special Right Triangles Andrew Arnold Emma Jamison Smriti Krishnan 1 st period 9 March 2009

30 Degrees Triangle Emma 58 inches (eye height) Base: 12 feet Angle B= 30 degrees Trigonometry: Tan 30 = opp/adj Tan 30 = b/12 Tan 30 (12) = b 6.93 ≈ b =/≈ Special Right Triangles: In a , long leg= √3 x short leg. 12 = √3 x sh. Leg 12/√3 = sh. Leg 12 x √3 / √3 x√3 = 12√3/3= 4√3 4√ ≈/= 64.93

45 Degrees Triangle Andrew 62 inches (eye height) Base: 8 feet Angle B= 45 degrees Trigonometry: Tan 45 = opp/adj Tan 45 = b/8 Tan 45 (8) = b 1 = b = 63 Special Right Triangles: In a , leg = leg. Leg b= 1 1 = leg a 1= = 63

60 Degrees Triangle Smriti 58 inches (eye height) Base: 4 feet Angle B= 60 degrees Trigonometry: Tan 60 = opp/adj Tan 60 = b/4 Tan 60 (4) = b 6.93 ≈ b =/≈ Special Right Triangles: In a , long leg= √3 x short leg. 4 = √3 x sh. Leg 4/√3 = sh. Leg 4 x √3 / √3 x√3 = 4√3/3 4√3/ ≈/= 64.93

40 Degrees- Our Very Own Choice Emma again! 58 inches (eye height) Base: 10 feet Angle B= 40 degrees Trigonometry: Tan 40 = opp/adj Tan 40 = b/10 Tan 40 (10) = b 8.39 ≈ b =/≈ Special Right Triangles: In a , leg= leg. Leg b = = leg a 8.39 = 8.39 This an estimation, as the triangle has a 40 degrees angle. But using the approximation, ≈ 66.39

We actually learned… The average eye height was: 59 inches. Taking the pictures was not easy! It was freezing outside that day! Although most of the trigonometry was easy, we racked our brains on the special right triangles part (and had to get out the formulas from our binders! Don’t tell Mrs. Culbreth! SSSh!). The one problem we really had was calculating the 40 degrees angle. But… we tried our best and hope it turned out correct! Lastly, putting together the powerpoint with math symbols, such as the approximation one, was a little difficult until we discovered that the Symbols button had everything! We learned that if we did the math correctly, the answer for the trigonometry and special right triangles was the same, and that Emma’s and Smriti’s eye height was the same, so that their answers were the same.