Science teacher, Scott Bucher’s physics class reopens for the first time since the 22-23 school year, teaching students how the world around them moves. Students learn how to calculate the movement and forces applied to different objects.

During the Oct. 17  lab, students use trigonometry and vectors to calculate the height and distance of different objects around campus.

In this lab, students used a sextant (or a level app on their phones), to find the angle between various distances and different objects around campus to figure out their height. They started out by finding how long their footstep length is by walking alongside a ruler. 

With this knowledge they went outside, pacing their steps from the math portables to the corner of building 6, then pacing alongside the building to the other side. Trigonometry was then used to find the distance between the far end of the building and the math portables.

They then walked a steady pace from a light pole out 10 paces, and used the level apps to find the angle, using the law of cosines and sines to find the distance between them and the top of the light pole.

Finally, students calculated the height of building 6 by measuring the angles of the low and high portions of the roof from multiple distances, from the bushes to the far end of building five, while pacing out the distances from the building to the measuring points, creating two triangles. Using these angles, and the concepts mentioned above, students were able to find the height of the building.

Gallery • 5 Photos

James Emerian

Using the level app on their phones, students Jacob Christensen and Drew Russo calculate the angle between them and the roof of the building, Oct. 17.

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