Slide Survey Write-Up

Problem
Describe the task and problem.
Solve for the height of the slide without crossing the fence onto the elementary school grounds
using an inclinometer made of a protractor, straw, string, tape and washer, a tape measure, and
flags for markers. Chalk is provided to document distances, etc.

Process
Describe how you developed the plan to solve the problem
Describe the procedures that you did to execute the plan.
Describe the tools (physical and mathematical) that you used and how you used them.
Discussed several plans. Someone in another group gave a hint on the board using two triangles.
Worked out that an equal lateral triangle could be used because all angles are sixty, but then didnt
bother to use this. Used inclinometer to measure angle of my eyes to the slide (8). Then measured
the distance from the first marker to the second marker (12 ft). This allowed for the measurement of
the angle from Point A (55) to the base of the slide and the angle of Point B (92) to the base of the
slide. Those angles, when added and subtracted from 180 degrees, the total degree of every
triangle, found the angle at the base of the slide (33) to either Point A or Point B. I then realized that
the distance from Point A to the base of the slide could be found using the Law of Sine, which used
the angles from Points A and B to the slides base and the distance from Point A to Point B.
sinB / b = sinC / c sin92 / b = sin33 / 12 12sin92 = bsin33 12sin92 / sin33 = b 22.0
b is the distance from the base of the slide to Point A, so I stood 22.0 ft from the base of the slide.
The tangent of the measure of the angle from my eyes to the slides top could then be used to find
the height of the slide above my eyes if standing next to the slide. This only had to be added to the
height from the ground to my eyes, and the height of the slide was known (the group only measured
to the top of the slide as in the point that one would slide from).
(tan8 = a / 22.02) + 5 = height of slide (22.02tan8 = a) + 5 = hs (3.09) + 5 = 8.09

Solution
Describe how you analyzed the data to solve the problem.
Draw diagrams that clearly shows the information that you gathered and the information that you
solved for.
Knowing that side a is always opposite angle A, side b opposite angle B, and side c opposite angle
C makes it possible to understand how to set up Law of Sine. This enables one to solve for a
missing value for the triangle related to the point of vision. Once this is understood and found, one
can find the height above ones eyes and add the height below ones eyes in.

Reflection

What did you learn from this task?

What did you like/dislike about it?
Why is it relevant/useful to you?
What questions do you still have about surveying and other applications of Trigonometry?
I learned how to measure the height of an object when unable to directly measure the height from
the base to the apex of said object. I appreciated working in the group because I had people to
bounce ideas off of and to help me out, but I was able to find footholds from which to work on my
own. That was incredibly important to me because I am not confident when trying to understand
math, and while I did not understand everything previously, I understand it very well now. This is
useful to me because I may need to measure something that I dont have the ability to directly
measure the height of. For instance, if there is a tree in the yard of the house that I buy when Im
older, and I need to know in a short amount of time how tall it is for whatever random reason, this
would help me solve that answer nearly instantly. Im not sure I have any other questions about
surveying and applications of trigonometry, but if I think of any I will update this page.