Sunday, April 29, 2012

30-60-90 Triangle Review

Bob is at the fair and decides to ride the ferris wheel. He sits at the bottom of the ferris wheel and is 3 feet off the ground. The radius of the ferris wheel is 38 feet. The ferris wheel turns 300 degrees counter clockwise and stops to let someone new on. How far away from the ground would Bob be after the ferris wheel stops?
First, draw a picture:
The center of the wheel is A.
AB and AC are both 38 feet because they're both radii of the circle.
BD is 3 feet (height of Bob above the ground before 300 degree CCW rotation).
X=the height of Bob above the ground right now.
Angle CAE is 60 degrees (360-300=60)
X=ED

Bob's height off the ground is: X=41-AE
Since triangle AEC is a 30-60-90 triangle, AE must be half of AC.
and 38/2=19 feet.
AE=19 feet...fill it into the equation:
X=41-19, which reduces to
X=22
Bob is 22 feet off the ground after a 300 CCW rotation.

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