In a mall, a shopper rides up an escalator between floors. at the top of the escalator, the shopper turns right and walks 9.00m to store. the magnitude of the shopper's displacement from the bottom of the escalator is 16.0m. the vertical distance between the floors is 6.00m. at what angle is the escalator inclined above the horizontal?

Question

i just can't get the right answer for this problem, can anyone please give me some hints? THX A LOT!

Answer 1

Lets take the 9 m out of the picture.

16^2=9^2 + E^2

so solve for the Escalator length, E.

Now, having E,

E^2=6^2+ H^2 where H is the horiontal displcement. Actually, looking at the equations, there is no reason to solve for E

16^2=9^2+6^2 + H^2
solve for H.
angle= arctan 6/H

I get close to 27 degrees.

Answer 2

how do you know 16m,9m, and E forms a right triangle?

Answer 3

I get 22.03 degrees