Worksheet Week 3

Students Name:

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Course Name: MAT104

Teachers Name: Christopher Valle

The study of triangles can be used to solve many real world applications. To do this we need the three trigonometric functions sine, cosine, and tangent defined on a right triangle:

Opposite
Hypotenuse
Adjacent
cos =
Hypotenuse
Opposite
tan =
Adjacent

sin =

We may also use the Law of Cosines and the Law of Sines for any arbitrary triangle:

c 2 = a 2 + b 2 2ac cosC
sin A sin B
=
a
b

Worksheet Week 3

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1. Evaluate each of the following, or label it undefined:

a)

sin 30 o

b)

cos127 o

c)

tan 52 o

d)

sin 1 (.37)

e)

cos 1 (.924)

f)

cos 1 (1.3)

g)

tan 1 (1.3)

2. Suppose an individual stands at the base of the Washington Monument and then walks 100m away and
measures the angle of elevation to be 59.43o (this is the angle measured from the ground to the top of the
monument from the individuals perspective). Find the height of the monument to the nearest hundredth of a
meter.

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3. Suppose a radio tower is 400 meters tall and is to be anchored by 3 cables running from the top of the tower
to the ground. Assume the ground near the tower is flat. If we want each cable to make an angle of 65 o with
respect to the the ground what is the total length of cable required? Round your answer to the nearest meter.

The Astronomical Unit (AU) is the average distance between Earth and the Sun, i.e the distance between Earth
and the Sun is 1 AU. The lightyear (ly) is the distance light travels in a single year.

1 ly = 1.5813 10 5 AU
4. Use the Law of Cosines to answer this question: The Astronomical Unit (AU) is the distance between Earth
and the Sun. Suppose on a particular day that Mars is 2.4 AU from Earth. As observed from Earth the angle
between Mars and the Sun is 20 o .
a) Find the distance between Mars and the Sun. Express your answer in terms of AU rounded to 1 decimal
place.
b) If you were a martian what would you observe as the angle between the Earth and the Sun?

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5. Alpha Centauri is the brightest star in the constellation of Centaurus and the third brightest point in the night
sky. In the same constellation lies Proxima Centauri which is the nearest star to our sun. As observed from
Earth the angle between Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri is 2.18 o . The distances from Earth to Alpha
Centauri and Proxima Centauri are 4.365 lightyears and 4.243 lightyears respectively. Find the distance between Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri. Express your final answer in Astronomical Units (AU).

Worksheet Week 3
6. Suppose a triangle has sides of length 4, 5, and 6. What are the angles of this triangle?

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7. Use the Law of Sines to answer this question: A ship is floating near two light houses on the shore line that are
known to be 100 m apart (assume the shore line is strait). If the navigator fixes a line of sight perpendicular to
the shore line and then measures the angles between this line of sight and the two light houses to be 15 o to
the left and 35 o to the right respectively, then how far is the ship from the shore (i.e what is its perpendicular
distance to the shore)?

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8. The Great Pyramid at Giza was the tallest structure in the world for over 3800 years. Suppose Batman stands
near the Pyramid and measures the angle of elevation (i.e the angle from the ground to the top of the Pyramid) to be 43o . He then walks 50m directly away from the Pyramid and measures the reduced angle of elevation to be 35 o . How tall is the Pyramid? Round your answer to the nearest meter.

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9. Consider a triangle for which A = 72 o , a = 2, b = 3 where a and b are the lengths of the sides opposite angles A and B respectively. Explain why this triangle cannot exist. Hint: Find sin B.

10. Suppose you stand at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge and measure the angle of elevation to the
north tower to be 33.39 o . You then drive to the south end of the bridge and measure the angle of elevation
to the north tower to be 7.97 o . If you know the bridge is 6463ft long how tall is the north tower?

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The following are review problems from the previous worksheet. Recall that compound interest may be computed
using the following formula:

At = P 1+
n

nt

11. Suppose you invest $25000 at 4% compounded quarterly. What will be the value of the investment in
a) half a year?
b) 1 year?
c) 5 years?
d) 10 years?
e) 25 years?

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12. Suppose a diamond has appreciated in value by 5% compounded annually. Suppose the diamond is now
worth $5,976
a) How much was it worth 10 years ago?
b) How long until it is worth $7,500?

13. If a magic beanstalk is now 1ft tall and doubles in height every day how long would it take to reach a length
that would circle the planet which is about 131.48 million ft around?

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Recall that general exponential growth may be represented by the formula

At = A0 ekt
where At is the amount at time t, A0 is the amount at time 0, and k is the rate.
14. A colony of bacteria grows exponentially. Suppose you look under a microscope and see that there are 13 bacteria, then you check again 1 hour later and see that there are now 98 bacteria. How long until there are
a) 500 bacteria?
b) 1,000 bacteria?
c) 10,000 bacteria?
d) 1,000,000 bacteria?

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Recall that Newtons law of cooling states that

ut T = (u0 T )e kt
where ut is the temperature at time t, u0 the temperature at time 0, k is the constant of decay, and T is the temperature of the surrounding environment.
15. Suppose that during a manufacturing process a metal component is heated to 2000 o F and then placed in a
cooling bath at 37 o F . Now suppose we check the temperature of the component 1 minute later and see that
it has cooled to 1286 o F . How long until the component has cooled to
a)

500 o F

b)

80 o F

c)

38 o F