Once again, math pays off
Jun. 3rd, 2009 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melaniesuzanneOne of my projects for Pennsic is a clothes rack. I borrowed ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
carthew's clothes rack last Pennsic and it made digging through my wardrobe so. much. easier. I couldn't remember the exact height of the boards, unfortunately, but I had a rough remembrance that they didn't tower over my 5'6" self and they were slightly shorter than the pavilion's 6' eave when in clothes rack position. I also didn't know the degree of the angle at the top. What to do?
I then remembered this picture. Ha ha! That basket on the ground is 22" long and there's another 6" or so from the bottom of the basket to the rack leg on either side. Alrighty. I've got an isoceles triangle with a height of six feet and a base of 34". But I still don't know the angles. How the heck am I going to figure out how long to make the sides??
After prowling the web for assistance in finding the length of isoceles triangle sides and not remembering how to figure out tangents, I found a site which suggested splitting the triangle in half. Oh my gosh, of course! And then I can use the Pythagorean theorem to determine the length of my clothing rack boards.
Sheesh. You know, if only we'd been shown the practical applications for geometry (oh, my poor pool game) and trig, I'd have kept up my interest in the higher maths. Maybe. :)
carthew's clothes rack last Pennsic and it made digging through my wardrobe so. much. easier. I couldn't remember the exact height of the boards, unfortunately, but I had a rough remembrance that they didn't tower over my 5'6" self and they were slightly shorter than the pavilion's 6' eave when in clothes rack position. I also didn't know the degree of the angle at the top. What to do?I then remembered this picture. Ha ha! That basket on the ground is 22" long and there's another 6" or so from the bottom of the basket to the rack leg on either side. Alrighty. I've got an isoceles triangle with a height of six feet and a base of 34". But I still don't know the angles. How the heck am I going to figure out how long to make the sides??
After prowling the web for assistance in finding the length of isoceles triangle sides and not remembering how to figure out tangents, I found a site which suggested splitting the triangle in half. Oh my gosh, of course! And then I can use the Pythagorean theorem to determine the length of my clothing rack boards.
Sheesh. You know, if only we'd been shown the practical applications for geometry (oh, my poor pool game) and trig, I'd have kept up my interest in the higher maths. Maybe. :)
