Christopher B. answered 09/18/21
Experienced Physics Teacher/Tutor with Engineering Background
This looks like just a little trigonometry.
- Draw a triangle to represent the hill
- The angle between the road and the horizontal is 8.0 degrees
- The length of the diagonal is 700 m
- The vertical side of the triangle is your unknown - let's call it "y"
- Decide which trig formula to use
- We know all the angles, but let's use 8.0 degrees
- We know the hypotenuse
- We're trying to find the vertical side, which is opposite to the 8.0-degree angle.
- I would use the sine formula, since sin = opposite / hypotenuse
- sin(8.0o) = y / 700 m
- Make sure your calculator is in degrees mode so you get the right answer.
- Check: It should be clear from your drawing that the vertical height is the smallest end of your triangle. Your answer should be a lot less than 700m.