Hi again. Checking one more to see if I get it.

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Pinkshell4u
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Homework Statement


A train slowly climbs a 500 m mountain track which is at an angle of 10 degrees with respect to the horizontal. How much altitude does it gain?


Homework Equations


Looks a lot like the jogger one except you find change in y instead, right?
Are we missing mass? Do I need mass?
So do I use the -FdSin again?


The Attempt at a Solution


I tried it and came up with a crazy huge answer.
 

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Pinkshell4u said:

Homework Statement


A train slowly climbs a 500 m mountain track which is at an angle of 10 degrees with respect to the horizontal. How much altitude does it gain?
Looks like just a basic trig problem ...the diagonal is 500 m, the angle is 10 degrees, so the height increase is___?___?
 
I appreciate your help Jay but you basically just repeated the question. I'm an old dog trying to learn a new trick here so please bear with me. I am the weakest link when it comes to math. I get confused about what equation to use and why.

If I'm looking for the change in altitude then I would use FDelta Y Cos...right? Thats what my books got anyway. But there's no F and I don't have a mass, so what now?
 
If the question is worded properly, you have a right triangle with a small angle of 10 degrees, and a diagonal of 500 m. From trigonometry, the side opposite the given angle, divided by the hypotenuse, is the sin of the angle. So h/500 = sin 10 degrees. Solve for h.
 
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Thank you very much Jay!