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Right Triangles - How tall is SWIS?

Today were going to find the height of some of the SWIS campus.

Things you will need (you can work in groups so sharing is perfect!):
One phone with a clinometers app

Clinometer +3 seems to be a decent free option!

A straw taped to the phone as your eye-piece
String and a string or another distance measuring device

1. Lets work on our estimating skills first. Before making any measurements, you should write down an estimate for
the heights of both buildings in meters. Explain your thought process for making your estimate. For example, I
know that Yao Ming is 2.29 meters tall, so I tried to visualize how many Yaos it would take standing on top of
each other to reach the top of the building. You may or may not have a better method.









Now choose a location in the field and stand there and measure the angle from that spot to the top of the building using
the clinometer. From that location measure the distance to the building.
Location 1

Angle

Location 2

Angle

Location 3

Angle

Distance (m)

Distance (m)

Distance (m)

* round angles to nearest degree and distances to nearest cm

Draw a diagram in the space provided that shows the triangle that you will use to find the height of the building. Label all
the measurements that you made.








2. Use your measurements and the Platonic Right Triangles book to find the height of the SWIS buildings three
different times, from your three different locations. Include diagrams in your calculations.

4. a. How accurate do you think your calculations for the height are? Explain.




b. If the true angle was 1 degree smaller than what you measured what would the height be? What about 3 degrees
smaller?






c. What if the distance you measured was 1 meter shorter than the actual distance? How about 3 meters shorter?