Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mr. Acre
GAT 9C
26 May 2016
Kelenski-Martellaro
A multimillionaire sent out a challenge to high school students to build her a tower.
Seems easy right? The catch is that this tower must be built precisely following her directions.
The multimillionaire wants the tower to be built in a piece of land with a 38x38 feet plot size.
There is one local rule that states that the tower cannot be built within 3 feet of the boundaries of
plot, thus actually making the plot size 32x32 feet. The tower’s base must also be a 20-sided
polygon.
Within these rules, four separate polygons must be plotted within the boundaries, all
being 1 foot apart from each other. These polygons represent the many aspects of the tower. One
tricky aspect that will have to be built is the footing. A 3 feet wide, 3.5 feet deep footing must be
poured out of concrete. The center is hollow, but she wants an aquarium to fill it in! The water in
this aquarium will fill 75% of the hollow area of the footing. On top of this, just about every
dimension in the tower needs to be calculated to find things such as the surface area and volume.
A multimillionaire would never settle for a plain tower either. A theme is also
recommended for this challenge. The millionaire recommends that one theme she wants her
tower to be based on is all her favorite Pixar movies. For example, one major symbol in
Monsters Inc. is its doors, so she wants the door to be Monsters Inc. themed. She is also fond of
other Pixar movies such as ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Finding Nemo’. Themes have students go the extra
mile to impress this quirky millionaire. This does look like an intimidating project, but with the
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Part Two:
Figure 1 shows the base of the tower within the 32x32 feet plot size. Even though it is a
38x38 feet plot, it was explained in the introduction why the tower must be contained a 32x32
feet plot size. The base is a 20 sided polygon; this polygon maximizes and touches on its edges.
This is similar to an octagon, whose edges also meet the boundary. In Figure 1, all four polygons
are visible. These four 20-gons are going to be the main basis in the tower. The triangle drawn in
will be used in just about every aspect of this project. But before the math is done, measurements
such as angle measures and side measures have to be calculated using trigonometry methods.
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Figure 2 shows how to find the central angle measurement of a 20-gon. The formula to
finding the central angle is 360/ Ω, where Ω represents the number of sides. Since a 20-gon has
20 sides, the central angle measure would be 360/20. When simplified it is 18°. This central
angle measure is crucial to find the side lengths in the four polygons.
In Figure 3, a drawing of polygon 1 is shown. Side B is 16 feet long. But how is that?
Well, since the polygon is maximized within the 32x32 feet plot, and its edges touch the outside,
an altitude can be dropped down from the midpoint of any of the 20 sides. The altitude equals 32
feet because that’s the maximum value it can be before going outside the plot. The adjacent side
however, is 16 feet because it is half of 32. Side A will be found in a later figure. Side A is
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In order to find all of the 20-gon’s side measures and area, 20 congruent right triangles
need to be drawn in the polygon. The triangle drawn above will be scaled and used to find the
area of all four polygons. It is shown in Figure 3 that for polygon 1, the adjacent side length, or
the height of the 20 triangles is 16 feet. Since its central angle measurement is 18°, the height
would bisect the angle into 9°. With this information, all side lengths can now be found using
right triangle trigonometry. These sides are usually labeled as the opposite, adjacent, and
hypotenuse. Because of the central angle’s location on the polygon, the height of the triangle
represents the adjacent side, the base of the triangle represents the opposite side, and the
hypotenuse of this triangle is the hypotenuse. If the other angle was used to find these sides, the
opposite and adjacent sides would be different. In order to start and find the area of polygon 1,
the opposite side length, which will be o, has to be found. This will also be done to all of the four
polygons.
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Figure 5 shows how to find the base of polygon 1. The only things known at first are one
angle measurement and one side length. Without knowing right triangle trigonometry, it would
be common for people to believe it is impossible to find any other side lengths. But the three
right triangle ratios; sine, cosine, and tangent, make it possible. In this case tangent is used to
find the length of the opposite side, which is actually half of the base. The first thing to do is to
plug 9° in for Θ. Then 16 is plugged in for A because that is the length of the adjacent side. After
solving this equation, approximately 2.53 is found as the opposite. When doubled to find the
length of the base, it is around 5.07 feet. Even though it is simplified in Figure 5, when more
math is done later, the actual values will be used to find exact measurements.
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The table above shows how to find the area of polygon 1. Since there are 20 triangles in a
20-gon, the area of one interior triangle is multiplied by 20. That is done in Figure 6. The area of
a triangle is ½ base·height. The base and height were found in the preceding figures. When that
is plugged in and simplified, the area turns out to be approximately 810.93 feet².
Figure 7 shows the needed sides in polygon 2. Polygon 2 is the next polygon going in the
tower. The height of polygon 1 is scaled by exactly 1 foot. The adjacent side, or d, is the side
length that is being scaled. So instead of the adjacent side being 16 feet, it is now scaled to 15
feet.
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The figure above shows how to find the length of the base of polygon 2 using right
triangle trigonometry. The process of finding the base length is the same as the process for
polygon 1. This time although, the adjacent side length is 15 feet, opposed to 16 feet. This time,
15 is substituted in for D. After this, both sides are multiplied by 15 using the multiplication
property of equality. The equation after this equals 15·tan(9°). This comes out to be about 2.38
feet. This is only half of the base although. The base is now multiplied by two to become
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Figure 9 shows how to find the area of polygon 2. The process of finding the area of
polygon 2 is also similar to finding the area of polygon 1. The base and height is plugged into the
area formula, which is 20(1/2bh). After solving this, the area can be found. The area of polygon
Figure 10 shows the third polygon down. This polygon has been scaled down a foot from
polygon 2. As shown in Figure 7, the adjacent side, or f, is scaled by 1 foot. This means the
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Base= 2(O)
Figure 11 shows how to find the base of polygon 3. Just like polygons 1 and 2, half of the
opposite side is found using tangent. After plugging in the adjacent side of polygon 3, which is
14 feet, the new opposite can be found. The base of polygon 3 is approximately 4.43 feet.
Figure 12 shows how to find the area of polygon 3. The area of polygon 3 is 20(1/2bh).
The base and the height are known so they can be substituted in to find the area of polygon 3.
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Once the math has been calculated, the area can be found. The area of polygon 3 is
Figure 13 shows the adjacent side length of polygon 4. This is the final polygon, meaning
it is 3 feet away from polygon 1. This polygon was scaled a foot from polygon 3. The height, or
Base= 2(O)
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Figure 14 shows how to find the length of the base of polygon 4. Just like the other
polygons, tangent was used to find half the base. It is about 2.06 feet, but in order to find the
length of the base it has to be multiplied by 2. The length of the base of polygon 4 is
Figure 15 shows how to find the area of polygon 4. The base and height was plugged into
the area of a 20-gon formula. The area of polygon 4 is approximately 535.34 feet².
Part Three:
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Figure 16 is a drawing of the footing. The footing is three feet wide and 3.5 feet tall. The
footing extends from polygon 1 to polygon 3. The center is a hollow polygon 4. This means that
the area of the footing is the area of polygon 1 subtracted by the area of polygon 4.
Figure 17 shows how to find the area of the footing. Figure 7 proves that the area of the
footing is the area of polygon 4 subtracted from the area of polygon 1. When you plug in the
areas into the formula and subtract it comes out to be around 275.59 feet². The area of the footing
Figure 18 shows how to find the volume of the footing. The volume of the footing is the
area of the footing multiplied by the height of the footing. The area of the footing was found in
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Table 10. The height is given, it is 3.5 feet. When multiplied, the volume of the footing is found
to be 964.57 feet³.
Figure 19 shows how to find the volume of the floor. The area of the floor is the same as
the area of polygon 4. The height of the floor is four inches. But the volume is found in feet, and
four inches is one third of a foot. These numbers are plugged in to find the volume of the floor.
Figure 20 shows how to find the volume of the aquarium. The area of the base is the
same as the area of polygon 4. The height of the aquarium is given to be 75% of the height of the
footing. 75% of 3.5 is 2.625. After this, the volume is found to be approximately 1,405.27 feet³.
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Figure 21 shows how to find the cost analysis of the concrete needed to install the
footing. The first thing that needs to be done is to convert the cubic feet into cubic yards. Twenty
seven cubic feet is equivalent to one cubic yard so the volume of the footing is divided by twenty
seven. After this, the amount of cubic yards can be put in the cost formula to find the cost to
make the concrete. The cost is approximately $4,140 because y has to be rounded up. Y is
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Figure 22 shows how to find the volume of the sheet that will be used to determine the
cost of the Plexiglas. The area of the base is multiplied by the height. The dimensions were
Figure 23 shows how to find the cost of the Plexiglas. The volume of the floor and the
volume of each Plexiglas sheet has been found. The volume of the floor is divided by the volume
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of the sheets to find how many sheets can fit in the floor. There are approximately 16.73 sheets
that can fit, but it is not possible to buy fractions of the purchase, so it is rounded up to 17. 17
Part Four:
Figure 24 is a drawing of the base of the outer prism. The base of the outer prism is
polygon 2, so the length of one edge will also be the same as the length of polygon 2’s edge. The
length of the edge is 30(tan(9°)) feet. That length is needed to find the height of the prism
because the height of the prism is twice the length of one edge of the outer base.
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Figure 25 shows how to find the height of the outer prism. The millionaire says the height
is going to be twice the length of the side of the base. Figure 8 shows how to find the precise
length of the base so all that needs to happen is for it to be doubled. When that happens the
actual height turns out to be 60tan(9), or approximately 9.5 feet. This is needed to find the lateral
surface area.
Figure 26 is a labeled drawing of one lateral face. The height and length of the base has
been found. With these, the area of one lateral face can be found.
Figure 27 shows how to find the area of one lateral face. The area formula for any
quadrilateral is base multiplied by the height. Since the base and height were found so all that
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needs to be done is to substitute them in and multiply. When that is done the area is found to be
Figure 28 shows a labeled drawing of the window. The window is just like the other
polygons used but the altitude is 1.5 feet. That is because the length of the whole 20-gon is three
feet. This will be explained later. The base will also be found later too.
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Figure 29 shows how to find the base of the window. The adjacent side length was found
to be 1.5 feet. This can be put in the trigonometric ratio of tangent. Once the math is done for
this the length of half the base is about .24 feet, the actual base is approximately .48 feet.
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Figure 30 shows how to find the area of the window. The formula to find the area of a 20-
gon is 20(1/2bh). The base and the height were previously found. When they are substituted in
Figure 31 is a sketch of the door. It is given that the door is three feet wide and five feet
tall. The top of the door has the same dimensions as the window that was all found in the last few
figures. The area of the top part of the door is half the area of the window, which has already
been found.
Adoor= Atop + Abottom Formula for Finding the Area of the Door
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Figure 31 shows how to find the area of the door. The area of the door is the area of the
top part plus the area of the bottom part. The bottom part is given to us as a 3x5 feet rectangle.
The area of that is 15 feet². The area of the top part however, is half the area of the window. The
area of the top part is 10(½(3tan(9°))(1.5)). When multiplied, this turns out to be approximately
Figure 32. Finding the Lateral Surface Area of the Outer Prism
Figure 32 shows how to find the lateral surface area of the outer prism. The lateral
surface area is 20 times the area of one lateral face minus the area of both the door and window.
All these things have been found so they can be substituted in to find the lateral surface area. The
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Part Five:
Figure 33 shows the base of the inner prism and one side length. The base of the inner
prism is polygon 3. This is because the wall is one foot thick and is from polygon 2. The length
In order to find the volume of the inner prism, its height is needed to be found. Luckily,
the height of the inner prism is the same as the height of the outer prism, which has already been
found. The height of the inner prism is 60·tan(9°), or approximately 9.5 feet. With the height, the
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The figure above shows how to find the volume of the inner prism. The volume of the
inner prism is the area of the base times the height. Both of those measurements have been found
in previous figures. All that has to be done is the multiplication. The volume of the inner prism is
Part Six:
Figure 36 is a drawing of the outer pyramid. The slant height is needed to find the lateral
surface area of the outer pyramid. Before the slant height is found, the height of the pyramid, h,
and the angle between the lateral face and the prism base, Θ, needs to be found. It is given that
the height of the pyramid is three times the length of the base. The base is polygon two, and the
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base length has already been found. The length of the base of polygon two is 30·tan(9°) feet.
Since the height is three times as big as the length, the height of the outer pyramid is 90·tan(9°)
Figure 37 shows how to find Θ. With right triangles, when two side lengths are known,
all angles can be found using trigonometric ratios. In this case, tangent is being used to find Θ.
The base and the height were already found so all that has to be found is Θ. After everything is
substituted in, the inverse of tangent has to be applied to both sides. After this the angle
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Now, that all the dimensions have been found, the slant height can be solved. Cosine is
cos(Θ)= a/h where a is the adjacent side length and h is the hypotenuse. Since 90·tan(9)/15 is the
angle measurement and 15 is the adjacent side length, they are substituted in to find the
hypotenuse. The multiplication property of equality is then used to isolate h. The hypotenuse is
Part Seven:
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Figure 39 is a drawing of the outer pyramid. The slant height and the base length has
been previously found. But what about angles a and b? These will be found in the following
figures.
Figure 40 shows how to find the angle measurement of angle a. When half the base of the
outer pyramid is o, and the slant height is l, it can be substituted in the trigonometric function
tangent. The precise dimensions are used to find the angle measurement, and the inverse of
tangent is applied to the ratio of o/l. The angle measurement is approximately 6.55°.
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Figure 41 shows how to find the angle measure of angle b. The same process to find a is
used to find b, but in a different way. Since angles a and b are in two different locations, the
opposite and adjacent sides will be different. In angle a, the length of half the base is the opposite
side, and the slant height is the adjacent side. For angle b, it is the other way around. When the
inverse of tangent is applied to the slant height over half the base, the angle measure of b is
The figure above shows how to find the area of one lateral face of the outer pyramid. The
area of one lateral face is ½bh. The base and height has been found in previous parts. After
Figure 43 shows how to find the lateral surface area of the outer pyramid. The lateral
surface area of the outer pyramid is 20 times the area of one lateral face. The area of one lateral
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face was solved in Figure 42. When multiplied by 20, the lateral surface area was found to be
983.23 feet².
Part Eight:
It is given that the height of the inner pyramid is three times the length of one side of its
base. The base of the inner pyramid is polygon 3. To find the height, the length of the base is
multiplied by three. The height of the inner prism will open the pathway to find the volume of
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Figure 45 shows how to find the height of the inner pyramid. In Figure 44, it was said
that the height of the inner pyramid is three times the length of the base of polygon 3. When the
feet.
Figure 46 shows how to find the volume of the inner pyramid. The volume of the inner
pyramid is ⅓(Abaseprism)(h). The area of the base prism is the area of polygon 3. The height was
found in Figure 45. When multiplied out, the volume of the inner pyramid is found to be
Part Nine:
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Figure 47 is a sketch of the tower. In this sketch, the four polygons are fitted inside the
32x32 feet plot size. The footer is also visible under the plot. The tower is sketched to scale as
well.
Figure 48 shows how to find the lateral surface area of the outer tower. The lateral
surface area of the prism and pyramid of the tower has been found in previous parts. Next, those
things need to be added together.. After adding these numbers together, the lateral surface area of
Vinnertower= Vprism + Vpyramid Formula to Find the Volume of the Inner Tower
Figure 49 shows how to find the volume of the inner tower. The volumes of the inner
prism and volume has been found in previous parts. Similar to Figure 48, these two numbers just
need to be added up in order to get the volume of the inner tower. After they are added together,
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Conclusion
Nice try Ms. Millionaire, not many issues were encountered during this challenge. The
only problems that occurred were because of slight confusions. For example, when finding the
volume of the inner prism, originally, the height of three times one edge of polygon 3 was used,
not polygon 2. To the builders, the tower project was a fun review to refresh their minds. The
reason for the success of the project is because of the precise numbers used to calculate the
measurements. Just like in the real world, approximations will not be accepted. The math used in
this project did take some time to solve, but all in all wasn’t that challenging. It was exciting to
accept the challenge from the wonderful millionaire and it would be delightful to see what else
she has to offer. For right now though, she will have to settle with her Pixar themed tower.
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