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Two ways up (Posted on 2002-05-05) Difficulty: 3 of 5
A tower, 200 feet high, has an elevator inside it, and a spiral stairway winding its way around the tower at a constant 30 degree angle with the horisontal.

Given the tower's radius of 10 feet, what is the difference between the distance covered by a person going up in the elevator, versus one climbing the stairs?

See The Solution Submitted by levik    
Rating: 2.7500 (4 votes)

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Two Ways | Comment 3 of 14 |

If the stair has an angle of 30 degrees from the horizontal, then for each foot along the stairs you go down 1/2 foot (sin 30 degrees=0.5) . Thus if the tower is 200 feet high you would go twice as far along the stairs or 200 feet further.
  Posted by Richard Gorman on 2002-05-06 14:08:18
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