geometry help

[Mr. Bloom]

OK, I have a little construction project going and I'm 120 miles away from my tools... Can you hear Tim Allen going "hu hu hu hu hu" in the background???? So, I don't have modern tools and need to revert to time tested methods that I haven't studied for nearly 35 years...and this is the only place where I know there are smart people:D

Anyway, I need to determine an angle as follows (I've even been to wikipedia to get some lernin':p):


1. It's a right triangle
2. I measured the height at 29 inches and the hypotenuse at 47 inches
3. Using the pythagorean theorem, I calculate the left leg (width) at 37 inches.

So, what is the measurement of the angle that is between the left leg (width) and the hypotenuse?

Oh that's right...a cycling connection:confused::confused:Oh yeah, I just leaned my bike against that wall:D

[Veronica]

A google search got me this.

http://www.csgnetwork.com/righttricalc.html

V.

[DebW]

arccos(37/47)=38.1 degrees

[Mr. Bloom]

Yea! Thanks!

[Zen]

Iwill never in my life have any use for that application but it's pretty cool.
Even I got it right :D

[Mr. Bloom]

I felt really good calling my carpenter and telling him that the plan needed to be installed at a 51.9 degree angle hu hu hu hu hu

[Skierchickie]

I hate to burst your bubble, MR. S, but I'd be interested to see just how close this carpenter gets to exactly 51.9 degrees!:p Maybe he'll be spot-on, but when I do prints for my job (not carpentry, however), the tolerance on an angle is generally at least +/-1/2 degree. I'm sure he'll shoot for 52, or maybe 50. Not knowing what this is for, I could be totally wrong - my only real experience with carpenters has been while building our log house, which in itself is inherently inaccurate. Sort of an eye opener for a couple of M.E.s. A nice stick-built with nice square corners everywhere would have fit the profile better.

Let us know!

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm going to have an old fashioned, downward sloping bannister replaced with Glass Block...so you're right...precision won't matter since the morter will be used to level the pattern.