Re: triangle question
I do it the handraulic way, and break it into two right (90 degree) angle triangles. Draw your triangle with a 24" base and 16" sides and then draw a line right down the centre.<br /><br />Now you can use the trig functions on your scientific calculator to calculate the angles. We'll start with the lower left angle. You know the line that's not part of the right angle, called the hypotenuse, is 16". The line adjacent to the angle we wish to find is 12". Now we must select the correct trig function.<br /><br />The selection depends on what numbers you know. Here's the formulas:<br />angle = arcsine of the opposite side divided by the hypotenuse<br />angle = arccosine of the ajacent side divided by the hypotenuse<br />angle = arctangent of the opposite side divided by the ajacent side<br />(I memorize this with the "word" SohCahToa)<br /><br />Since we know the adjacent and hypotenuse lengths we'll use arccosine. Divide 12 by 16" and we get 0.75. Now to get the arccosine, first make sure your're calculator is set to degrees (DEG as opposed to RAD or GRAD). Enter 0.75, next click the 2nd, or INV(ert) button to make it arc, and then hit COS(ine). It should spit out 41.4, which is the angle.<br /><br />Now to get the other angle, we'll use a short cut. All the angles in a triangle add up to 180. We know the right angle in the middle is 90, and we found the bottom left angle is 41.4. So 180 - 90 - 41.4 = 48.6. <br /><br />Finally it's time to put it all together. The lower right corner of the triangle is the same as the left, so it's 41.4 degrees too. The tops are the same too, so each of those is 48.6 degrees. Since clearly they're beside each other, simply add them. So the angle up there is 97.2 degrees.<br /><br />I hope that explains it!<br /><br />EDIT: Longwinded and late.
