Discover the Depth of an Opaque Cylindrical Tank with this Optics Question

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An opaque cylindrical tank with a diameter of 3 meters is filled with water, and sunlight at an angle of 28 degrees fails to illuminate part of the tank's bottom. To solve for the tank's depth, a schematic can be drawn, illustrating the cylinder and the angle of sunlight. By applying trigonometric principles, specifically the sine or cosine rule, a depth of approximately 1.41 meters can be calculated. The lack of illumination on the bottom occurs because the sun is at a low angle in the afternoon, preventing light from reaching all areas of the tank's bottom. Understanding the geometry and light angles is crucial for solving this optics problem.
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An opaque cylindrical tank with an open top has a diameter of 3m and is completely filled with water. When the afternoon sun reaches an angle of 28o above the horizon, sunlight cease to illuminate and part of the bottom of the tank. How deep is the tank?

I don't understand how to approach this question but more importantly I guess I should ask why doesn't the bottom part of the tank is not illuminated?
 
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Hi,
To make things easier i suggest you to draw a schematic..
I think it is simple.Draw a cylinder..that is enough..Now draw a line..with 28 degree to the surface of the tank or to the bottom of the tank..now you can apply sin or cosine rule to get the height of cylinder? By this way i got 1.41 m height of cylinder.
good luck
 
semc said:
… why doesn't the bottom part of the tank is not illuminated?

Hi semc! :smile:

It's afternoon, so the sun is going down …

even if the tank was empty, when the sun is low enough, the sunlight won't light up all the bottom of the tank. :wink:
 

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