Question

A straight driveway is 87.0 ft long, and the top is 11.0 ft above the bottom. What angle does it make with the horizontal? ( Round to the nearest tenth

Answer 1

Let us begin by illustrating the problem using a diagram:

Here we have represented the angle that the driveway makes with the horizontal to be x

Step 1: Label the sides as shown:

Step 2: Using the sides given, find the required angle

The formula that relates the angle, opposite side and hypothenuse side is:

`sin\theta\text{ = }(opposite)/(hypothenuse)`

Applying the formula:

`\begin{gathered} sinx\text{ = }(11)/(87) \\ sin\text{ x = 0.126437} \\ x\text{ }\approx\text{ 7.3}^0 \end{gathered}`

Hence, it makes an angle of 7.3 degrees with the horizontal