Question

A skate ramp is 4.2 meters long. It rises up 1.7 meters. What’s is the angle of elevation to the nearest tenth of a degree?

Answer 1

Θ
=
arcsin
(
.7
4.2
)
≈
10
∘
Explanation:
We view the ramp as a right triangle. The hypotenuse is 4.2 and the vertical side .7, which is opposite the angle
θ
we seek.
sin
θ
=
.7
4.2
=
1
6
I'm going to finish the problem but I'll note if we were actually building the ramp we don't need to know the angle; this sine is sufficient.
θ
=
arcsin
(
1
6
)
θ
≈
10
∘
which I think is a pretty steep ramp for a wheelchair.
There will be another inverse sine that is the supplementary angle, around
170
∘
, but we can rule that out as a value for a ramp wedge angle.