http://www.ck12.org Chapter 8. Right Triangle Trigonometry
8.8 Trigonometry Word Problems
Here you’ll learn how to use the trigonometric ratios to solve word problems.
What if a restaurant needed to build a wheelchair ramp for its customers? The angle of elevation for a ramp is
recommended to be 5◦. If the vertical distance from the sidewalk to the front door is two feet, what is the horizontal
distance that the ramp will take up(x)? How long will the ramp be(y)? Round your answers to the nearest hundredth.
After completing this Concept, you’ll be able to use trigonometry to solve this problem.
Watch This
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Click image to the left for more content.CK-12 Foundation: Chapter8TrigonometryWordProblemsA
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Click image to the left for more content.James Sousa:SolvingRight Triangles- The Basics
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Click image to the left for more content.James Sousa:SolvingRight Triangles- Applications
Guidance
A practical application of the trigonometric functions is to find the measure of lengths that you cannot measure. Very
frequently, angles of depression and elevation are used in these types of problems.
Angle of Depression:The angle measured from the horizon or horizontal line, down.
Angle of Elevation:The angle measure from the horizon or horizontal line, up.