Question

A Ferris wheel has 16 evenly spaced cars. The distance between adja-

cent chairs is 15.5 ft. Find the radius of the wheel (to the rear-

est 0.1 ft).

Answer 1

Explanation:

If the cars are evenly spaced, then the angle between each radius is 360∘16=22.5∘

.

The distance between adjacent chairs is 15.5ft

.

Let r

be the radius of the ferris wheel.

You now have an isosceles triangle with the equal lengths rft

and the angle between them is 22.5∘

.

Can you find the other two angles? Can you formulate a Sine Rule equation?

Answer 2

A Ferris wheel has 16 evenly spaced cars. The distance between adjacent chairs is 15.5 ft. Find the radius of the wheel (to the nearest 0.1 ft).

The Answer: R= 39.7