Buried Treasure

Josh Wheeler

BASE
OF HILL
12.
25

25
0
5

SCALE
(PACES)

NOTE:
1 PACE IS APPROX 3 FEET

X
50
(c) PACES ROCK
50 PACES 20 PACES
(d) 70 PACES
(a)
POSSIBLE (B) PACES
TREASURE
50
LOCATIONS
(c)

(
SIN40 = SIN(a) = SIN40 (70) ) = 0.899902654 X PACES

(b)
50 70 50
(c)=(SIN -1(0.899902654))-(40) = (64.14527)
40° 70

(b)=180-(64.14527)=115.85473 (A)
(a)=180-40-(b)=(24.14527)
(d)=180-2c=(51.70946)

SIN40 SIN(24.14527) SIN(24.14527)*(50) PALM TREE

(A)= 50 = (A) =( SIN40 )

= 31.81856 (Previous Location)
50 (B) SIN(51.70946)*(50)

= =
(
(B)= SIN(64.14527) SIN(51.70946)
SIN(64.14527) )= 43.60909
Now, you are going to detail your plan for finding the treasure so you can tell your team on site exactly
what to do. The only equipment they have to work with is a tape measure, lots of rope, a sharp knife,
shovels, and a protractor. You all decide that a pace will be approximated by 3 feet, so make sure to
convert your numbers to feet so they can accurately measure! Make sure to tell your team where to
start and which direction to head in. Since you don’t know which way is North, you will need to come up
with a different way of describing directions.

DIRECTIONS TO TEAM:

1. Cut 4 lengths of rope in these lengths: 210 feet, 150 feet, 130.8 feet, and 95.5 feet.
2. Person one stay at and hold one end of each of the 210 and 150 foot ropes at the Rock
3. Person 2 take the other end of the 210 foot long rope and turn so the hill is at approximately
your 4 O’ Clock position and walk away from the rock holding the end of the rope until it is
pulled tight.
4. While holding the rope tight at your approximate location, turn and face the hill. Take the
protractor and line up so the hill is on your left at the 0 degree mark and the 210 foot rope
pulled tight from the Rock is on your right at the 40 degree mark. Hold the end of the rope
as close to that spot as possible. (Make a mark in the sand if needed).
5. Person 3, give one of the ends of the 150 foot rope to Person 1 and one end of the 95.5 foot
rope and 130.8 foot rope to Person 2. Pull the second end of the 150 foot rope from Person
1 and the second end of the 95.5 foot rope from person 2 to a point in between Person 2
and the Hill. Pull the second ends of the two ropes until they touch and dig at that location.
6. If you don’t find any treasure at that location, grab the second end of the 130.8 foot rope from
Person 2 and walk towards the hill until it is tight. Get the second end of the 150 foot rope and
pull both of them tight to meet. Dig at that spot and you should find the treasure.
Reflection

Originally, I looked forward to learning more about trigonometry. Math

doesn’t come easily to me, but once I cross the threshold it becomes easier
and enjoyable. I work as a land surveyor, so I see how valuable trigonometry is
in a real world application.

As I began this class, I knew about the basic trig functions of sine, cosine,
and tangent. I use them almost every day for work. What I didn’t understand is
the fundamentals of these functions. Knowing how to use the inverse functions to
work backwards and manually check angles will be valuable in my work. I always
used computers to run the formulas before, but it will be good to be able to add
another type of manual check to my work.

While this class will benefit me in my work, it opened my eyes to many

other applications of trig. The uses are infinite. If I am up cutting firewood on the
mountain and want to cut down a large tree. I can use trig to determine the
approximate height of the tree without having to climb it. I can use this to
determine if it is far enough away from the road so I don’t block it when the tree
falls.

This class has taught me about the functionality of math in the real world,
but additionally, it has taught me to be more disciplined in turning in assignments.
This class didn’t have a weekly due date like classes I have taken in the past. All of
the assignments for each unit are not due until the end of each unit. This
motivated me to make and keep a schedule of assignments and avoid
procrastinating.

There is so much that is fascinating about trigonometry. Even though this

class took a lot of work, I am glad that I have learned more about trig. This
understanding will help me in my career. Now that I know more about math, I will
be motivated to take additional math classes in the future.