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8.7 Triangles are the Answer! Solving Applied Problems

Bob Brown; Morgan Chase; and Marilyn Nielson

Applications

Objectives

When you’ve completed this chapter, you’ll be comfortable with the following:

  1. Diagramming applied problems to see where right triangles can provide a solution.
  2. Applying right-triangle geometry to solve applied problems.

Here’s an age-old forestry problem: How tall is this tree?

 

American elm in Wisconsin. A view up the trunk.
Do you need to climb it to get its height?
The Hendricks Creek survivor elm stands on lands managed by the Wisconsin Board of Commissioners of Public Lands in northern Wisconsin. USDA Forest Service photo by Linda Haugen.

What do you need to know to find the height of this tree? How could you collect that data? What tools would you need? What about measuring the height of the tree if you are standing on a slope? We’ll apply right triangles to this situation and many others!

 


Instruments for Measuring Angles

Outside of a surveying environment, we’ll generally use a clinometer or relaskop to measure  vertical angles (up and down) and a compass to measure horizontal angles (back and forth). A clinometer will have two scales – one in percent and another in degrees or topographic. We’ll use the percent or topographic scale when measuring slopes and heights because the calculations can be done in your head.

This clinometer shows a percent scale and a topographic scale (1:66).

 

The relaskop was invented during the 1940s and shared with the world in a paper published in 1948. To learn more about its invention watch this 8-minute video clip.

 

This sighting compass can accurately find bearings in the field.

Slopes

Soon enough, you’ll learn how to measure the slope angle using a clinometer or relaskop in the field!

Slopes on maps

What if you’re presented with a topographic map and asked to find the slope? The distance you measure on the map represents the horizontal distance of the slope triangle (after you have converted it from the map distance to a ground distance). If you were to walk that same path on the ground, you’d be walking the slope distance.

A triangle showing the slope distance (hypotenuse), vertical distance (rise), and horizontal distance (run)You’ll find the slope angle of a map segment using [latex]Slope Angle in Percent = \frac{VD}{HD} * 100[/latex], where the the vertical distance (VD) is the number of contour lines crossed by that segment multiplied by the contour interval – and the horizontal distance is the ground distance along the segment.

Examples: Slope on a Topographic Map

Type your examples here.

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Slopes for Ladders and Ramps

We’ll see several situations where calculating the slope angle is needed given two of the sides of the slope triangle. In these cases, you’ll likely have a slope angle that you need to stay below or above for safety or accessibility. For example, a ladder is set up for optimal safety if its vertical distance is four times the horizontal distance it lies from the base of the object being climbed (400% slope or about 76°).

Ladder Angle: What is the '1 in 4' Rule?

To meet accessibility requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA), ramps need to have a slope ratio of 1:12 (8.3%) or less and are limited to a maximum horizontal distance of 30 feet.

Examples: Ladders and Ramps

Type your examples here.

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Slopes for Trails

On a trail, the distance you walk is the slope distance (SD), and it’s the hypotenuse of the slope triangle. The horizontal distance (HD) is the distance measured on a map and the vertical distance (VD) is the difference between your starting and finishing elevations.

The Forest Service has developed guidelines for ADA accessible trails that include the following parameters:

  • 1:20 (5 percent) for any distance
  • 1:12 (8.33 percent) for up to 200 feet (61 meters)
  • 1:10 (10 percent) for up to 30 feet (9 meters)
  • 1:8 (12.5 percent) for up to 10 feet (3 meters)
  • 1:7 (14 percent) into and out of drain dips for up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) where the cross slope does not exceed 1:10
  • Cross slopes should not exceed 1:20 (5 percent)

 

Illustration of a person with a day pack hiking uphill on a trail. Text and arrows indicate that cross slope is perpendicular to the trail, and running slope is along the trail's length.

 

Trails built with a grade less than half the side slope (slope of the hillside the trail traverses) are more resistant to erosion. In general, trails with an average slope greater than 40% are considered extremely challenging.

Given these parameters, we can design trails over a variety of terrain!

Examples: Trails

Type your examples here.

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Heights

Let’s leave the world of slope for a moment to

Heights on a Slope

Gaps

Gaps on a Slope

Plots on a Slope

You’re on one side of a river (or a canyon, or a swampy muskeg, or a busy highway) and need to know the distance to the other side. Right triangles can help and it’s like surveying magic!

Any gap (like a river) can be dealt with by finding an object on the opposite side that you can sight 90 degrees from parallel to the gap.

You’ll need to know one of the legs of the triangle and one of the angles. Which ones can you readily measure?

Use a tape to measure the distance you walk from the object you sighted on the other side to the point you’ll sight back to the object (side b). Use a compass to measure angle α. Viola! You have an angle and a side of a right triangle. Use these to find side a.

(In this particular diagram, you’d need to subtract the distance you stood from the river’s edge from a to get the width of the river.)

[latex]\text{tan }\alpha= \frac{a}{b}[/latex]

so

[latex]b \cdot \text{tan }\alpha= a[/latex]

In general, we call side b the baseline and angle α is our “angle to point”.

Examples

A) You’re on the edge of the Imnaha River Canyon. You sight  across to a dark boulder. Then, you turn 90º and walk 150 feet parallel to the canyon. You turn and sight back to that dark boulder. The angle from your baseline back to the boulder is 12º. How far is the gap across the canyon?
     B) You’re on a mountainside next to a waterfall and you want to know how wide the river is at the falls. There’s a big pine on the other side of the waterfall. You stand across from the pine and then turn 90º and walk 200 feet down the slope. You sight back to the pine at an angle of 5º from your baseline. Then, you remember: The baseline you walked down the slope won’t be a true horizontal distance because the mountainside is so steep. If you want your measurement of the waterfall to be accurate, you need to take the distance you walked (200 ft) and correct it from a slope distance to a horizontal distance. You use your clinometer and measure the slope angle as 4º. Now – use the true horizontal distance for the baseline and calculate the width of the waterfall.

Tree Heights

Check out the sweet triangle we can make with a tree! Which parameters can we measure easily in the field?

Diagram showing the elements involved measuring tree height on flat ground.

On flat ground, if you’ve got the angle to the top of the tree, the angle to the bottom of the tree, and you know your distance from the tree – you can build a couple of straightforward triangles.

 

Two triangles created when measuring tree height on flat ground.

The tangent of angle alpha will be height A divided by length D1. So, we can find height A by multiplying the tangent alpha by the distance from the tree, and we can find height B by multiplying the tangent beta by the distance from the tree. So, the total height of the tree (A+B) is equal to:

[latex]D\small 1 \cdot \tan\alpha+D\small 1 \cdot \tan\\beta = Height[/latex]

Simplified

[latex]D\small 1 (\tan\alpha+\tan\beta) = Height[/latex]

We’ve got a general formula that will work with trees on a slope too, but let’s take some time to look at slope first!

Examples

A) You are standing 66 feet from a tree on level ground. Your eye is at 5’6″. The angle to the top of the tree is 12°. How tall is this tree?

B) You are standing 100 meters from a tree on level ground. Your eye is 171 cm tall. The angle to the top of the tree is 8°. How tall is this tree?

Slope

The slope of a surface is a measure of its steepness. In some cases, such as a walkway or ramp or street, a shallow slope is safer than a steep slope. In other cases, such as a roof, a steep slope may be preferred because it allows rainwater or accumulated snow to move off the roof surface more easily than a shallow slope.[1]

We will first look at slope in terms of vertical and horizontal distances, and we will then look at slope in terms of angles. Come on, let’s hit the slopes!

Slope as a Ratio

Slope is defined as the ratio of the vertical rise to the horizontal run.

a right triangle with southwest angle marked, south leg marked 'horizontal run' and east leg marked 'vertical rise (positive)' another right triangle with southeast angle marked, south leg marked 'horizontal run' and west leg marked 'vertical rise (negative)'; marked angle below a dashed line that extends horizontally east from northwest corner of triangle

[latex]\text{slope}=\frac{\text{vertical rise}}{\text{horizontal run}}[/latex]
  • A line that is increasing in height has a positive slope.
  • A line that is decreasing in height has a negative slope.[2]
  • The slope of a horizontal line is 0; it is not increasing or decreasing.

A slope may be expressed as a ratio, a decimal, or a percent grade. For example, consider this loading ramp with a vertical rise of 23.5 inches and a horizontal run of 132 inches.

right triangle with horizontal leg marked 132 inches and vertical leg marked 23.5 inches

As a ratio, the slope is 23.5 : 132. Dividing the rise by the run gives a decimal value of approximately 0.18. Moving the decimal point two places to the right gives a grade of approximately 18%.

Check out Forest Measurements by Joan DeYoung. It has an excellent discussion of slope and its measurement and applications in the field of forestry.

Practice Exercises

Express each slope in three ways: as a ratio, a decimal, and a percent grade.

  1. right triangle with horizontal leg marked 12 and vertical leg marked 0.36
    (This is the preferred maximum slope for sidewalks.)
  2. right triangle with horizontal leg marked 12 and vertical leg marked 0.60
    (This is the maximum allowed slope for sidewalks.)[3]
  3. right triangle with horizontal leg marked 12 and vertical leg marked 1.00
    (This is the maximum allowed slope for ADA-accessible ramps.)[4]
  4. right triangle with horizontal leg marked 12 and vertical leg marked 2.16
    (This is the preferred maximum slope for open pit mines.)

Slope as an Angle

The steepness of a line may also be described by its angle of elevation above the horizontal (or its angle of depression below the horizontal).

right triangle with southwest angle marked theta, south horizontal leg marked 'run' and east vertical leg marked 'rise'

Notice that the vertical rise is the side opposite the angle, and the horizontal run is the side adjacent to the angle. Therefore, trigonometry tells us that [latex]\text{tangent}=\frac{\text{opposite}}{\text{adjacent}}=\frac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}}[/latex]. The tangent of the angle is equal to the slope.

[latex]\text{tan }\theta=\frac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}}[/latex]

Or, thinking about it in reverse, the inverse tangent of the slope is the angle.

[latex]\text{tan}^{-1}\left(\frac{\text{rise}}{\text{run}}\right)=\theta[/latex]

When we are looking at slope as a right triangle, the following terms will be synonymous:

Run = Horizontal Distance (HD) (also the distance if calculated from a map)

Rise = Vertical Distance (VD) (you can get this by counting contour lines on a topo map!)

Distance along the Hypotenuse = Slope Distance (SD)

Examples

A) SD = 124′ Slope Angle = 5°  Find HD and VD.

B) Slope Angle = 15° HD = 125′ Find SD and VD.

C) HD = 120′ VD = -12′ Find SD and Slope Angle.

D) You’re on a slope of 12° and measure along the ground a distance of 100 feet (SD). How far is this as a horizontal distance?

E) A slope rises 10 feet for every 150 horizontal feet. What is the slope angle in degrees?

F) On a map, you place a proposed 400-yard fenceline. The fence runs directly up a slope that is 8°. What will the actual length of the fenceline be on the ground?

G) Two points on a map are 4 inches apart. The map scale is 1:24000.  The starting elevation is 1800’and the endpoint elevation is 2200′.

  • What is the distance between the two points on the ground (not accounting for slope).
  • What is the slope?
  • What will the actual distance be if measured on the ground?

 

Practice Exercises

For exercises 5 through 8, determine the angle of elevation for each slope. Round to the nearest hundredth of a degree.

For proper drainage, the ground around a building should slope downwards, away from the building.

9. The minimum downward grade of the ground is 1%. Assuming this grade, if a point on the ground is 50 feet horizontally from the base of the house, how much lower is the ground at that point?

10. The preferred minimum downward grade of the ground is 2%. Assuming this grade, if a point on the ground is 50 feet horizontally from the base of the house, how much lower is the ground at that point?

11. The maximum acceptable downward grade of the ground is 10%. Assuming this grade, if a point on the ground is 50 feet horizontally from the base of the house, how much lower is the ground at that point?

12. A motion sensor needs to be installed on the outside of a warehouse door 12 feet above the ground. The sensor should go off if anyone approaching the warehouse gets within 20 feet of the door. What angle from vertical should the sensor point away from the building to detect someone at the appropriate distance from the warehouse? Round your answer to the nearest degree.

13. A ramp is being constructed to the entrance to a public building that is 2.5 feet higher than the level courtyard in front of the entrance. Assuming that the ramp will be continuous with no switchbacks or level platforms,[5] what is the minimTum horizontal distance required for the ramp so that it will comply with ADA regulations?

Tree Height + Slope

When we measure trees in the field, we’ll usually be standing on slope (at least in this part of the world!). The distance that we measure by pulling a tape or pacing chains will be a slope distance (SD). We can get the slope angle with a clinometer. We can also get the angle to the top of a tree and the angle to the bottom of  a tree with a clinometer.

How can we put these measurements together to arrive at the tree’s height?

Our first step is the get our horizontal distance from the tree. We can derive this from the slope distance (that we measured by pacing or pulling a tape/chain) and the slope angle (that we measured using a clinometer or similar tool).

[latex]\text{Horizontal Distance} = \text{Slope Distance}\cdot \text{Cos}(\text{slope angle})[/latex]

Then, we can calculate the total height of the tree by using the angles we measured to its top and bottom.

[latex]\text{Tree Height}= \text{Horizontal Distance}\cdot (\text{Tan angle to top - Tan angle to bottom})[/latex]

In this class, our work with tree height is limited to applications of trigonometric functions. We can also use percent slope (% slope) for the same calculations.  Forest Measurements by Joan DeYoung has a great discussion and explanation of the arithmetic for working with percent slope rather than slope angle.

 

Problem Set 8.4

Express each slope in three ways: as a ratio, a decimal, and a percent grade.

1. HD = 100 ft  VD = 15 ft

2. HD = 66 ft VD = 3 ft

3. HD = 100 ft VD = 8 inches

4. HD = 50 m VD = 28 cm

5. To be safe, for every four feet of height it gains, a ladder should be placed one foot from the structure it is accessing. In this scenario, what is the slope of the ladder in percent grade?

6. The downward grade of the ground from my house out toward the shed is 2%. If the shed is 100 feet horizontally from the base of the house, how much lower is the ground at that point?

Calculate the missing values.
Slope Distance (ft) Slope Angle Horizontal Distance (ft) Vertical Distance (ft)
7 125.6
8 113.9 -12° 15’
9 17° 145.8
10 -20° 20’ 98.1
11 195.8 -35.2
12 145.3 15.9

Find the horizontal distance (HD) in the following scenarios.

image

13. Slope angle =  14º SD = 100 ft

14. Angle of depression = 8º   SD = 66 ft

15. Slope angle = 2º    SD = 50 ft

16. Angle of depression =  1º SD = 100 ft

17. Slope angle = 8º   SD = 25 ft

18. Slope angle = 4º    SD = 33 ft


19. A slope rises 15 feet for every 125 horizontal feet. Find the slope angle in degrees to the nearest hundredth of a degree.

20. SD = 122 ft’ Slope Angle = 5°      Find HD and VD.

21.  Slope Angle = 12° HD = 100 ft  Find SD and VD.

22.  HD = 120 ft VD = -8 ft                 Find SD and Slope Angle.

23. You measure a distance of 197.3 feet on a slope of -27° 15’13”. Find the horizontal and vertical distances in feet to the nearest tenth of a foot.

24. A plot radius of 27.4 feet is laid out on a map. The slope is 16°. Find the length of the radius on the ground.

25. Two points on a map are 5.4 inches apart. The scale is 1:24000.  The starting elevation is 1,200 feet and the ending elevation is 1,450 feet. (a) Calculate the distance between the two points on the map in feet to the nearest foot. (b) Find the angle of the slope. (c) Calculate the distance if measured on the ground.

26. Two points on a map are 4.2 cm apart. The scale is 1:24000.  The starting elevation is 800 feet and the ending elevation is 1,200 feet. (a) Calculate the distance between the two points on the map in feet to the nearest meter. (b) Find the angle of the slope. (c) Calculate the distance if measured on the ground (in meters).

23. You are standing 66 feet from a tree on level ground. The angle to the top of the tree is 12° and the angle to the bottom is 2°. What is the height of the tree?

24. You are standing 100 meters from a tree on level ground. The angle to the top of the tree is 8° and the angle to the bottom is 5°. How tall is this tree?

25. You are on one side of an impassable canyon and want to measure the distance across the canyon. You stand directly across from a large pine and mark your spot. Then, you turn 90º and pace one chain along the canyon rim (this is your baseline). You use your compass to sight back to the large pine. This angle is 10º. What is the distance across the canyon?


26.  You’re on a mountainside next to a waterfall and you want to know how wide the river is at the falls. There’s a big pine on the other side of the waterfall. You stand across from the pine and then turn 90º and walk 200 feet down the slope. You sight back to the pine at an angle of 5º from your baseline. Then, you remember: The baseline you walked down the slope won’t be a true horizontal distance because the mountainside is so steep. If you want your measurement of the waterfall to be accurate, you need to take the distance you walked (200 ft) and correct it from a slope distance to a horizontal distance. You use your clinometer and measure the slope angle as 4º. Now – use the true horizontal distance for the baseline and calculate the width of the waterfall.

27. Find the widths of these gaps. The baseline is the distance you measure on one side of the gap. The angle to point is the angle you measure back to a point on the other side of the gap. The slope angle is the slope of the ground along your baseline. (a) Baseline HD = 130 ft     angle to point = 48° 17’10” (b) Baseline SD = 110 feet, slope angle = – 10°, angle to point = 28° (c) Baseline SD = 150 feet, slope angle = +7° 15’ 23”, angle to point = 62° 47’ 32”


28. You’re on a slope of 6° and standing 66 feet downhill from a large Ponderosa pine. You sight 18° to the top of the tree and 2° to the bottom. What is the height of the tree?

29. You’re on a slope of 9° and standing 100 feet uphill from a large western larch. You sight 5° to the top of the tree and -12° to the bottom. What is the height of the tree?


Practice finding the heights of the following trees, given the information in the table.

Slope Dist out Slope ° Horizonal Dist >° top >° bottom Height (ft)
30. 90 ft 0 53° -9°
31. 15.75 m -7° 32° -4°
32. 2.50 chains 11° 47° -15°
33. 75 ft -20 60° +12°
34. 60 ft +6° 51° +7°
35. 25 m -15° 49° -15°

 


  1. Source: https://www.nachi.org/roof-slope-pitch.htm
  2. We won't worry about negative slopes in this textbook, because we can always express a negative slope using a word like "decrease", "decline", or "depression" in combination with a positive number.
  3. Source: https://www.ada-compliance.com/ada-compliance/403-walking-surfaces
  4. Source: https://www.ada-compliance.com/ada-compliance/405-ramps
  5. If you were curious, this is the maximum rise allowed for this situation; a rise of more than 2.5 feet would require a switchback or a level platform.
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8.7 Triangles are the Answer! Solving Applied Problems Copyright © by Bob Brown; Morgan Chase; and Marilyn Nielson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.