- #1
efekwulsemmay
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Homework Statement
The problem from the book states
Suggest a way to measure the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
The problem I am having is actually trying to figure out how someone else's suggested solution. His idea was to take a value R for the mean radius of the sun:
[tex]R=6.96x10^{5} km[/tex]
And use trig to find out a rough distance.
Homework Equations
I drew up a diagram to help figure out how he thought it would work (see attached file Diagram 1).
The Attempt at a Solution
Now my thoughts were that since the adjacent side is equal to R+X and the opposite side of theta is just R, that we set the whole thing equal to tangent theta and solve for X.
[tex]\tan\Theta=\dfrac{R} {R+X}[/tex]
Solve for X:
[tex]X=\dfrac{R} {\tan\Theta} - R[/tex]
This is where I get stuck. I cannot think of a way to find a value for theta without having a value for X, and without a value for theta I cannot seem to find X.
Another thought I had was to somehow try and find the hypotenuse of the triangle but again I cannot figure out a way without either angle theta or a value for X. This is all the information that was assumed and given and this is what I have to work with. I don't understand how exactly he did it. Unless he withheld some other assumption.