A ramp 10 feet in length rises to a loading Platform that is 4 feet off the ground. What is the angle of elevation of the ramp in degrees?
Do I use the law of cosines? When I do though I'm getting a little confused what to do.
sine = opposite/hypotenuse
sin (angle) = 0.4
PERIMETER=2(L+B)
=
2(63+42)
=210
TOTAL COST=210*32
=672
.4 is not the right answer.
To find the angle of elevation of the ramp, you don't need to use the law of cosines. Instead, you can use trigonometry. In this case, you can use the tangent function.
The tangent of an angle is defined as the ratio of the length of the side opposite the angle to the length of the side adjacent to the angle. In this case, the side opposite the angle can be considered as the height (4 feet) and the side adjacent can be considered as the length of the ramp (10 feet).
Therefore, the tangent of the angle of elevation can be calculated as follows:
tan(angle) = height / length of ramp
Plugging in the values:
tan(angle) = 4 / 10
To find the angle itself, you need to take the inverse tangent (arctan or tan^-1) of both sides:
angle = tan^-1(4 / 10)
Using a calculator, you can find the inverse tangent or arctan of 0.4, which is approximately 21.8 degrees.
So, the angle of elevation of the ramp is approximately 21.8 degrees.