Imagine you are at home watching television. You are sitting 6 feet away from your TV which is hung on the wall and the top of it is 8 feet off the ground. Which of the following functions correctly represents the angle theta that you make with the top of your television?

Question

Marlie Randolph

Mathematics

8 October, 11:43

Imagine you are at home watching television. You are sitting 6 feet away from your TV which is hung on the wall and the top of it is 8 feet off the ground. Which of the following functions correctly represents the angle theta that you make with the top of your television?

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Answers (1)

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Case Thompson · Answer 1

You can trace a right triangle with these features:

- the 6 feet distance represents the horizontal distance from you to the TV, this is the base of the triangle or the adjacent leg

- the 8 feet distance is the vertical distance from the base of the triangle to the TV, this is the height of the triangle or opposite leg.

- the angle theta that you make with the top of your TV is

tan (theta) = opposite leg / adjacent leg = 8/6 = 4/3

=> theta = arctan (4/3) = 53.13 degrees.

Answer: 53.103 degrees