Sundial Mathematics Assessment

MYP 5: Mathematics
Crit: B, C, D
Chosen times and Experiment set up:

5 Chosen times to execute the experiment:

➔ 10 am, 12 pm, 2 pm, 4 pm
The object chosen to measure the length of the shadow:
➔ Cylinder and clock
Data table:
Time of the day: Length of the shadow (cm): Angle of elevation

10 am 17.5cm 39.6°

12 pm 12.5cm 49.2°

2 pm 14cm 45.9°

4 pm 18cm 38.8°

Calculation of the angle of elevation of the sun:

Example:
𝑜𝑝𝑝
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 𝑎𝑑𝑗
𝑜𝑝𝑝
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = (= 𝑎𝑑𝑗
)
−1 𝑜𝑝𝑝
θ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 (= 𝑎𝑑𝑗
)
−1 𝑜𝑝𝑝
θ = (= 𝑡𝑎𝑛 (= 𝑎𝑑𝑗
))

Angle of elevation of the sun:

θ=

10 am
𝑜𝑝𝑝
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 𝑎𝑑𝑗
14.5
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 17.5
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 0. 8285
−1
θ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 0. 8285
θ = 39. 64

Angle of elevation of the sun:

θ = 39. 64
12 pm
𝑜𝑝𝑝
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 𝑎𝑑𝑗
14.5
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 12.5
-
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 1. 16
−1
θ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 1. 16
θ = 49. 236

Angle of elevation of the sun:

θ = 49. 2

2 pm
𝑜𝑝𝑝
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 𝑎𝑑𝑗
14.5
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 14
-
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 1. 035
−1
θ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 1. 035
θ = 45. 98

Angle of elevation of the sun:

θ = 45. 9

4 pm
𝑜𝑝𝑝
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 𝑎𝑑𝑗
14.5
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 18
-
𝑡𝑎𝑛θ = 0. 805
−1
θ = 𝑡𝑎𝑛 0. 805
θ = 38. 834

Angle of elevation of the sun:

θ = 38. 8
Research: (to include in the video)

➔ What is a sundial?
A sundial is the earliest type of timekeeping device, which indicates the time of day by the position of
the shadow of some object exposed to the sun's rays. As the day progresses, the sun moves across the
sky, causing the shadow of the object to move and indicating the passage of time.

➔ What is a shadow and how is it created?

A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. Two things
are needed to make a shadow. The first is light. The second is something that blocks the light.
Together, these two things make an area that is darker than what is around it. This area is called a
shadow.

➔ What is the angle of elevation?

The angle is formed by the line of sight and the horizontal plane for an object above the horizontal.

➔ How does the sun affect the length of shadows?

The Sun's position in the sky affects the length of the shadow. When the Sun is low on the horizon,
the shadows are long. When the Sun is high in the sky, the shadows are much shorter.

Script:
Hello teachers,
This video will highlight the different areas of the sundial and the process of construting, orginizing
and discussing my own. In this summative assessment our goal was to design an experiment and
apply our knowledge of trigonometry to help identify connections between the angle of elevation of
the sun and shadows. In this experiment we have used the length of a shadow from different times of
the day to calculate the angle of elevation of the sun which in turn gives us perspective on tools used
to tell the time before clocks which in this case is known as a sundial were invented.

This task is split up into sections (insert the context slide and discuss).

So what is a sundial?
A sundial is the earliest type of timekeeping device, which indicates the time of day by the position of
the shadow of an object exposed to the sun's rays. As the Sun changes relative positions in the sky
over the day, the position of the shadow cast by the gnomon or a thin rod changes to align with the
different times around the outside of the circular plate indicating the passage of time.

By the 8th century BCE more-precise devices were in use to indicate the time. The earliest known
sundial still preserved is an Egyptian shadow clock of green schist dating at least from this period.
The design of this experiment will use elements of the sundial to make it successful and work.
Now that we have covered what the sundial is, let's talk about what the angle of elevation is and how
it can be calculated.
The angle of elevation is the measure of an angle between the horizontal line and the line of sight
which is above the horizontal line. It is formed when an observer looks upwards. Suppose you are
standing at the bottom of the street and looking upwards at a building or at the sun or sky.

The angle thus formed between your height from the ground level and the line of sight formed is
called the angle of elevation.

The angle of elevation formula is no different from the formulae of trigonometric ratios. With the
help of the formulae given below, we can find the angle of elevation depending on which two sides of
the triangle are known. The formulas consist of sine, cosine, and tangent where sine theta equals to
the opposite length divided by the hypotenuse, cosine theta equals to adjacent length divided by
hypotenuse and tangent theta equals to opposite length divided by adjacent length. In this
experiment the tangent formula will be used as the opposite and adjacent length are known.

Now that we know the background elements of the experiment and how it can be used lets talk diy
sundial.
The chosen times for my experiment was 10am, 12pm, 2pm and 4pm.

The experiment was conducted over the duration of 6 hours and the object used was an hourglass
which was cased in a cylinder. The height of the chosen object was 14.5 centimeters.

The experiment was conducted by measuring the shadow of the selected object during the different
points of the day then applying the tangent trigonometry ratio formula using that data to find the
degree of the angle of elevation.

The results of the experiment are as followed: (talk about graph)

At 10am in the morning the shadow casted by the sun of the hourglass measured 17.5 centimeters
which is 3 centimeters taller than the object itself. At 12pm the shadow casted measured 12.5
centimeters and had a difference of -2 to the object itself. At 2pm the shadow casted measured 14cm
with a difference of -0.5 and at 4pm the casted shadow measured 18cm with a difference of 4cm.

Through this data it is recognised that the lengths of 2 shadows had decreased approaching 12pm
with the trial of measurements going from 17.5 cm at 10am to 12.5 cm at 12pm but as soon as it hits
2pm the length of the shadows grows to 14cm instead of decreasing further, following that same
pattern the 4pm shadow had also increased in size to 18cm.

Now for the angle of elevation of the sun, and how the different shadows affect the sundial. The angle
of elevation for each of times like mentioned before was calculated using the tangent trig ratio
formula.
The first shadow measured at 10am had been calculated by dividing the height of object which was
14.5 centimeters by the length of the shadow which was 17.5 centimeters, because this equates to tan
beta not just beta we need to remove the tangent operation. To do that you will need calculate the
inverse of tangent multiplied by the sum which was divided in the previous setp. Once this is done
you have the angle of elevation of the sun. This process was repeated 3 more times for each of the
other times chosen.

The angles collectively followed the same pattern just inversed of that of the length of the shadows.
Each of the angles before 12pm had increased in size as it went rom 39.6 degrees to 49.2 degrees
however the pattern was interrupted and the angles of the 2 times measured after 12 had decreased
going from 45.9 to 38.8. The graph is shaped in an arch because of the increase then decrease of the
vales of the degrees of elevation that reaches its measured peak at mid
day. This further entails with how the movements of our sun and how it moves across our sky from
sunrise to sunset in almost a semicircle.

In conclusion, it was evident that the sundial had been successful to a certain extent. As predicted in
the beginning stages of the assessment the angle of elevation was the least during the early and later
hours being tested such as times of 10am and 4pm. Another prediction which proved to be accurate
was that the value of angle of elevation of the sun will be at its highest when the sun has completely
risen and is the subject of broad daylight such as a time of 12pm. During the prediction stages I had
also pointed out that the degrees of the elevation of the sun will increase/decrease proportionally to
the strength of the sun rays throughout the day, this was proven to be very accurate especially with
the weather conditions not being the most ideal for an experiment like this one.

That brings us to the areas of improvement and degree of accuracy

The main area of this experiment was the lack of trials. Because of the uncertain weather in the area
where the exipement was conducted only 1 trail was measured and analyzed meaning there is a lot of
possibility that the next time this expirmenet is conducted, the results will be very different. Another
hindrance to the degree of accuracy for this trial is the days the results were conducted, 2 of the first
results were collected on a sunday and the other 2 on a monday, even through the trials were
recorded the results for the later times of the day are not as accurate because of difference in
placement of the object from when measured on the day before.

That was my video on connections between the angle of elevation of the sun and shadows, I hope
you enjoyed. Thank you!

Link to slides which my video will be based off of:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1m9Z1xlg-j3LHLCo-lYEgitgHZY1Zc9ZQRrJkCCZmruw/edit#
slide=id.gabf9762155_0_4249