Need trig help!

[coder1]

I am doing review questions in preperation for tomorrows test. This is the exact question.

Stonehenge in Salisbury Plains, England, was constructed using solid stone blocks weighing over 99,000 pounds each. Lifting a single stone required 550 people, who pulled the stone up a ramp inclined at an angle of 9 degrees. Approximate the distance that a stone was moved in order to raise it to a height of 31 feet.



Am I missing something? Do I not need to know the distance of the adjacent side before I can get this?

 

[apac]

42.

 

[coder1]

explain how you came up with that answer? I don't understand where I am going wrong?

 

[Legendary]

LOL
Consider your angle to be 9 degrees
Your y = 31 feet
you're looking for h
sin(angle) = y/h

Edit: when you're done with your math, read the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

 

[Yossarian]

you have the angle and you have the distance of the "opposite" side of a right triangle. sin = opposite/hypoteneuse. sin(9) = 31/x

 

[coder1]

I appreciate the help everyone. I understand now what the sin of that angle is, but how to you solve with the info you already have? sorry for being so ignorant in this

 

[enginjon]

you cant get a better explanation than from the previous two. The weight of the stone and number of people needed to lift it are irrelevant for what you are trying to find. They are included to either confuse you, or are needed in a future question, which isnt likely since this is trig and not physics.

 

[coder1]

I see it now! I'm just going blind this late at night. Thanks everyone