| Author | Comment |
john777
Ultralisk
Posted: 12 Apr 2007
18:00 GMT
Total Posts: 289 | So in my math class we started trigonometry and I thinking and I can't figure out what a real world example for a tangent function would be if anyone can think of one I would appreciate it. Thanks. |
banjo2E
Wraith
Posted: 12 Apr 2007
18:26 GMT
Total Posts: 689 | "A sailboat out at sea needs to figure out the angle between landmarks A and B in order to navigate a reef safely. Its distance from landmark B is X yards. The distance between landmarks A and B is Y yards. Find the angle the ship makes between landmarks A and B."
There's a particular name for the angle, but I forgot it. This was in my trig book.
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haveacalc
Guardian
Posted: 12 Apr 2007
19:15 GMT
Total Posts: 1111 | Arctangent is infinitely better than tangent in the programming world. Off the top of my head, though, if you know the height of a building and the angle from your feet to the top of it, you could find how far away from the building you are (or how tall it is if given the distance away instead).
Also, if you know two groundtothetopofanobject angles and the distance between them, you can find how far away from the object you are, as well as its height. That one's probably my favorite application for tangent.
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-quoted directly from most movies that don't exist (and some that do). |
john777
Ultralisk
Posted: 12 Apr 2007
20:25 GMT
Total Posts: 289 | Thanks for the information guys but I guess I should have been more clear. What I want is to find a situation that would model the graph of a tangent function. Kind of like how you can model the graph of a sine or cosine function by hiting a tuning fork and using a microphone to cature the wave pattern. Thanks again. |
threefingeredguy
Ghost
Posted: 13 Apr 2007
04:20 GMT
Total Posts: 1189 | You could do what haveacalc said with varying distances and that'll give you the graph.
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Someone call for an exterminator? |
banjo2E
Wraith
Posted: 13 Apr 2007
05:47 GMT
Total Posts: 689 | I think he means a real-world example of something that would give the graph, 3fg.
Speaking of which, the graph looks a lot like a sample of abstract/geometric art...
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threefingeredguy
Ghost
Posted: 13 Apr 2007
16:48 GMT
Total Posts: 1189 | Using a real-world use of the function, like haveacalc suggested, and changing one of the variables WOULD give a graph. Duh.
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Someone call for an exterminator? |
Zachary940
Wraith
Posted: 13 Apr 2007
23:11 GMT
Total Posts: 714 | This topic reminds me how much I hate triangles.
I'm more of an Ax^2+Bx+C=0 kind of guy.
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It is much easier to suggest solutions when you know nothing about the problem. |
dprog
Marine
Posted: 14 Apr 2007
11:19 GMT
Total Posts: 49 | example:
"there is a flagpole at point B[bottom], top at point C
You are at point A. you know the distance from point A to B, and
angle CAB; find the height of the flagpole" |
haveacalc
Guardian
Posted: 14 Apr 2007
11:51 GMT
Total Posts: 1111 | That was already listed...
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-quoted directly from most movies that don't exist (and some that do). |
john777
Ultralisk
Posted: 14 Apr 2007
17:39 GMT
Total Posts: 289 | What I am looking for is something you could do like a classroom lab situation and get the graph of Y=Tan(x) in your data points. Like the picture in my avatar. I think that what 3fg said about varying of the distances from the flag pole was closest, but that would be hard to model. Thanks again for all of the suggestions. |
