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2 votes
A skate ramp is 4.2 meters long. It rises up 1.7 meters. What’s is the angle of elevation to the nearest tenth of a degree?

User Reddot
by
5.2k points

1 Answer

3 votes
θ
=
arcsin
(
.7
4.2
)

10

Step-by-step explanation:
We view the ramp as a right triangle. The hypotenuse is 4.2 and the vertical side .7, which is opposite the angle
θ
we seek.
sin
θ
=
.7
4.2
=
1
6
I'm going to finish the problem but I'll note if we were actually building the ramp we don't need to know the angle; this sine is sufficient.
θ
=
arcsin
(
1
6
)
θ

10

which I think is a pretty steep ramp for a wheelchair.
There will be another inverse sine that is the supplementary angle, around
170

, but we can rule that out as a value for a ramp wedge angle.
User Jonasberg
by
5.8k points