Trigonometry Grade 11

Question

A pool player is practicing angles. She hits a ball 2 feet to the bumper. The ball then rebounds at an angle of 74°

travelling 3 feet away from the bumper. How far from the original location will the ball end up? Include a well-

labelled diagram.

Answer 1

The angle of incidence and the angle of rebound are equal.

Your diagram will show you that you need to use the law of cosines as follows:

c² = 4 + 9 - 36 cos 32°

You do the arithmetic.