How Tall is It?Baseball Foulpole

By Will Henson, Keighly Laney, and Tori GastonMarch 9, 2009

6th Period

Tori Gaston42 feet from baseEye height: 58in

Tanx =opp. adj. Tan 10= x 4242 (tan10)= x

x≈7.41X≈7.41feet+58inx≈7.41feet+4.83

feetx≈12.24

10˚

10)

Will Henson18 feet from baseEye height:

61.5inches

Tan x= opp adj

Tan 30= x 18

x≈10.39ft

x≈10.39ft+ 61.5in

x≈10.39ft+ 5.13ft

x≈15.52 feet

30˚

Long leg= √3 short leg 18=√3short leg 18/√3= short legShort leg=6√3X≈ 10.39+5.13x≈150r 6√3 + 5.13

30)

Keighly Laney10 feet from baseEye height:

58inches

45˚

45)

Short leg=short leg 10=10

10 + 58in10 + 4.83 X ≈ 10.48

Tan45= x 10 x= 10 10 + 58in 10ft + 4.83ft x= 14.83feet

Will Henson4 feet from baseEye height:

61.5inches

60˚

60) Tan= opp adjTan60= x 4 x ≈ 6.93 6.93 + 61.5in 6.39 + 5.13ft x≈11.53feet

Long leg= √3short leg x= (√3) 4 x= 4√3 4√3ft + 61.5in 4√3ft + 5.13ft93ft + 5.13ft = 12.06ft x ≈ 12.06feet or 4√3 + 5.13feet

Conclusions The average height of the foul pole for this project

was 13.17 feet tall. To find the height of the foul pole, each member of

the group counted the distance from the foul pole at 10⁰, 30⁰, 45⁰, and 60⁰. We then used trigonometry and special right triangles to find the height of the foul pole. We used the distance from the base as one of the legs. For the special right triangles, we used a clinometer to measure the degrees in order to use the equation of tangent, and find the height.

One lesson we learned from this project is that the shorter the distance from the base, the greater the angle degree is.