At 20:42 07/13/08, Harvey Best wrote:
Thanks! I had been searching for a formula when I should have run a
search like you did.
How long does a ramp have to be to raise a plane 8 degrees from
horizontal to a hight of one foot...
One shouldn't have to find a formula to solve this.
It's simple trigonometry (the definition of the sine of an angle in a
right triangle) from
high school math.
If X is the hypotenuse of a right triangle (call it X because this is
what we're
looking for), A is an angle, and L is the length of the side opposite
from A, then
sine of A is defined as "opposite over hypotenuse".
Sin A = L / X
Use A = 8 degrees and L = 1 foot. We get Sin 8 = 1 / X or X = 1 / sin8
Get sin 8 = .13917 (using the calculator applet in Windows). Note: be
sure your calculator is set for degrees and not radians.
X = 1 foot / .13917
= 7.1853 feet
The whole point is not to look for (and memorize) some formula but to use
a concept learned (hopefully) long ago.
Regards,
Bill
