Caitlin Carter
Mr. Fisher
MAT-1010
Mathematics Capstone
For my mathematics capstone, I have chosen problem number four: From where youre
standing you measure the angle of ascension to the peak of a mountain to be 30 degrees. The
same peak when viewed from 1000 feet further away is 27.8 degrees. How tall is the mountain?
To begin, I drew the mountain and the initial angles. The first angle is in red, while the angle
Carter 2
The next step in this process for me was to label all other known measurements. Triangle
a-b-c was only missing one angle measurement which I got from the equation a + b + c =
180. Therefore, 30 + 90 + c = 180; 120 + c = 180; then c = 60. Lines b and b come
together on a straight line. The rule is that that two angles on a straight line equal 180. So,
Carter 3
taking the known 30 and subtracting that from 180, leaves us with 150. Using the same
The initial triangles measurements are labled a, b, and c. All three values are unknown. The next
triangle use the same line a, and already has a measurement for what would be b. The only
Now that all the information and place holders have been drawn, it is time to figure out
the mountains height. This is represented by the line a. Since neither line b nor c have a value,
we cannot use Pythagorean Theorem just yet. We need to find the value of b or c first. I have
chosen c.
Looking at triangle c-b-c, one can use the law of sines to determine the width of line c.
c ' sin ( 2 .2 )=1000 sin ( 150 ) by cross multiplying. Simplify it even further to
a
Using line c and the angle value of 27.8, we can use the equation cosA= c to find
13,024.97
the length of side a. So, a ; a = 13,024.97cos(27.8); a = 11,521.6. The height of the
cos ( 27.8 ) =