Sunshine State Sue Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I am tutoring GED students in math. I haven't looked at SOHCAHTOA in a while. This one confused me. I would think you would use tangent, not cosine, and the problem would be tan 57 = h/20 leading to h=41.2 When I asked the teacher, she told me she hadn't looked at this in a long while and it wouldn't be on the GED. But, it bugs me. Someone want to explain it to me? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 (edited) I am tutoring GED students in math. I haven't looked at SOHCAHTOA in a while. This one confused me. I would think you would use tangent, not cosine, and the problem would be tan 57 = h/20 leading to h=41.2 When I asked the teacher, she told me she hadn't looked at this in a long while and it wouldn't be on the GED. But, it bugs me. You are completely right, the solution is incorrect. h/20 should be the tangent. ETA: The solution is also implausible. If the pole were 10ft high, it would not cast a 20 ft long shadow if the sun stood at almost 60 degrees. If the angle is over 45 degrees, it should be obvious that the shadow must be shorter than the pole. The teacher's comment really irritates me. Just because it is not on the test, the published solution can be wrong???? Morons. Edited November 2, 2012 by regentrude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 You are completely right, the solution is incorrect.h/20 should be the tangent. Thanks. It's nice to know that I haven't totally lost it yet. ;) In the teacher's defense, she has 30 students in the class covering 5 subjects. She has a very narrow focus of what they need to learn and what they don't have to bother with until much, much later or never. She wasn't saying that the solution couldn't be wrong. She was saying that we didn't have to spend time on this section because it wasn't important to the task at hand (passing the GED on Wednesday). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 In the teacher's defense, she has 30 students in the class covering 5 subjects. She has a very narrow focus of what they need to learn and what they don't have to bother with until much, much later or never. She wasn't saying that the solution couldn't be wrong. She was saying that we didn't have to spend time on this section because it wasn't important to the task at hand (passing the GED on Wednesday). Now, where did the wrong solution come from? Prep book? Materials used in previous years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 Now, where did the wrong solution come from? Prep book? Materials used in previous years? Prep book. This lesson was on sine, cosine, tangent. This practice page had the first problem in each section worked out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Prep book. Ouch! Let's confuse the students as they prepare...:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 Ouch! Let's confuse the students as they prepare...:tongue_smilie: Not only the students, but the rusty tutors as well...;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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