Question

A railroad track rises 10 feet for every 400

feet along the track. What is the measure-
ment of the angle the track forms with the
horizontal?

Answer 1

1.43 degrees

Explanation:

Think of this as a triangle with an x (horizontal) value of 400 and a y (vertical) value of 10.

Using this train of thought, we can use SOHCAHTOA to find that the tan of some angle (we will use Ф to represent this angle) is equal to the opposite (vertical) value divided by the adjacent (horizontal) value.

As an equation, it looks like this: tan (Ф) = 10/400.

We can use the arctan to find Ф from this equation: arctan (10/400) = Ф

Therefore, Ф is about 1.43 degrees.