Solving for Distance and Angle in Baseball Press Box and Inclined Road Problems

[XPX1]

The press box at a baseball park is 38.0 ft above the ground. A reporter in the press box looks at an angle of 16.6° below the horizontal to see second base. What is the horizontal distance from the press box to second base?

____ ft


How do you figure that out? You don't have a hypotenuse so you can't use sin and cos, so I am kinda... I am out of ideas anyone know what to do?


AND!

You are driving up a long inclined road. After 1.5 miles you notice that signs along the roadside indicate that your elevation has increased by 530 ft.
(a) What is the angle of the road above the horizontal?
°3.828 CORRECT
(b) How much further do you have to drive to gain an additional 150 ft of elevation?
____mi ?


How do I figure out part B of this problem?

 

[Fusilli_Jerry89]

#1
the 38 ft is the vertical distance on the right angle triangle and you are trying to find the horizontal distance. So you can do tan16.6=38.0/x x=38/tan16.6 which equals roughly 127.5 ft.

#2 Sorry I don't know feet and miles

 

[Fusilli_Jerry89]

k wait Ill try it, should be 3.838 degrees for part a. Add 150 ft to y, so you get 680 ft. You know that the angle is 3.838 degrees, so draw a triangle. You're trying to find the hypotenuse. Sin3.838=680/x x=680/sin3.838 x=10159 ft. Take x and subtract the original distance. 10159-7920=2239 ft. Or Sin3.838=680/x+7920 x+7920=680/sin3.838 x=(680/sin3.838)-7920

 

[XPX1]

Thanks I got it correct! It seems to help me more if I can see someone do the problem, and how they did it, instead of tidbits of information on how to set it up, thanks a lot man!