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?

To explain better....
If the stair has an angle of 30 degrees from the horizontal, then for each foot along the stairs you go down or up 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 (400 feet) or 200 feet further. The sin 30 degrees is the same as the cosine of 60 degrees. good answer

Posted by Angela on 2002-05-07 07:25:17