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I have a packet that I've answered all by 6 questions (Out of 82). I'm unsure of what formula to use. It would be greatly appreciated if someone could walk me through how to do this particular problem?

Example:
"Using right angles"

6. An ancient Egyptian named Fred is standing 400 meters away from the center of a pyramid. He looks up 37 degrees to the top of the pyramid. How tall is the pyramid?

I'm a bit confused.

2007-11-19 15:38:12 · 2 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics Physics

2 answers

The pyramid and it shape are unimportant... only a single triangle is being considered. Fred is at point A and he is 400 meters from point B which is X meters beneath point the at tip of the pyramid, (or what ever tall object you'd like to imagine,) point C. You have three values given. Point A is a 37 degree angle. Point B is a 90 degree angle since it is at the center of the pyramid and directly beneath the pyramids tip and must meet the ground at a right angle, 90 degrees. The leg between A and B, the base of the triangle, is given as 400 meters. Use your formulas to figure out the final legs and angles of the triangle. Your answer is the length in meters from point B to point C, or in other words, the tangent of angle A divided by the base of the triangle. You should now have all you need to complete the problem.

Good luck.

[][][] r u randy? [][][]
.

2007-11-19 16:29:20 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Draw a right triangle. Fred is at the non-right angle, looking up along the hypotenuse. The length of the base is 400 m and Fred's angle is 37 degrees.

The tangent of the angle is equal to the altitude of the triangle divided by the base. So

tan 37 = height of pyramid / 400 m

Solve for height.

2007-11-19 15:48:31 · answer #2 · answered by jgoulden 7 · 0 0

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