Solving For Right Triangles With A Twist

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a geometric problem related to determining clearance from a point on the ground to a wall, involving two points with a specified height difference and horizontal and vertical measurements. The context is engineering, with a focus on applying geometric reasoning to solve the problem.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes the problem involving two points, A and B, with specific height and distance measurements to a wall, seeking to find new distances after a rotation of Point A.
  • Another participant questions whether the wall is angled, suggesting a potential complication in the geometry involved.
  • Further replies inquire about the angle of the wall and the horizontal distance from Point B to the wall, indicating a need for more information to clarify the problem.
  • One participant suggests that the given measurements are sufficient to find the necessary angles and coordinates, proposing the introduction of a coordinate system for clarity.
  • Another participant recommends using CAD software for a graphical solution to the problem.
  • A later reply mentions GeoGebra as a helpful tool for visualizing the problem.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the sufficiency of the provided measurements and the importance of the wall's angle. There is no consensus on how to approach the problem or whether additional information is needed.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the absence of certain assumptions, such as the angle of the wall and the specific coordinates of the points involved, which may affect the problem's resolution.

tomtomtom1
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Hello Community

Firstly this is not a homework question despite the problem appearing to be very homework like.

I work in engineering. I am trying to determine the amount of clearance I have from a point on the ground to a wall.

I have two points, Point A and Point B.
Point A is 30mm Higher than Point B.
If I measure horizontally in the plane of points A and B to the nearest point on the wall I get 650 and vertically I get 800.
If I was to rotate point A about Point B such that Point A is now 90mm higher then Point B what would my new horizontally and vertical distance to the wall be?

After a few days working on this problem I cannot seem to make any progress.

Attached is a picture of the problem.

Can someone shed any light?

Thank You.
 

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Is the wall at an angle? I guess you've never done any geometry? :frown:
 
tomtomtom1 said:
Hello Community

Firstly this is not a homework question despite the problem appearing to be very homework like.

I work in engineering. I am trying to determine the amount of clearance I have from a point on the ground to a wall.

I have two points, Point A and Point B.
Point A is 30mm Higher than Point B.
If I measure horizontally in the plane of points A and B to the nearest point on the wall I get 650 and vertically I get 800.
If I was to rotate point A about Point B such that Point A is now 90mm higher then Point B what would my new horizontally and vertical distance to the wall be?

After a few days working on this problem I cannot seem to make any progress.

Attached is a picture of the problem.

Can someone shed any light?

Thank You.
PeroK said:
Is the wall at an angle?
Yeah, and what angle is the wall tilted forward with? And can you label the horizontal distance from the right-most point "B" to the wall?
 
The Blue and Red arrows are pointed to a single point on the wall.

The sloped line on the wall has no importance as each wall varies in shape, so you can imagine the sloped line of the wall not really there.

Regarding comment "And can you label the horizontal distance from the right-most point "B" to the wall?" no other information is available other then what is shown on the picture.

From the information I can derive:-
the angle at point B of the blue and red lines
The adjacent sides of the red and blue triangles.
 
Which sloped line do you mean?

The given measurements are sufficient to find A and B. If in doubt, introduce a coordinate system and find the coordinates of every point, and angles if relevant.
 
Do you have CAD available ? If you do then this problem can easily be solved graphically .
 

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