SunCalc Lab

     For this lab I took six measurements over two days. I will list the measurements from the earliest time to the latest time.  I measured the shadow and recorded it as the adjacent line (a) for my sine, cosine, and tangent measurements, the stick (27") as the opposite (o),  and the distance from the end of the shadow back up to the top of the stick as the hypotenuse (h)  which I calculated using the A squared + B squared = C squared formula. I rounded my measurements to the nearest whole number,  which I believe skewed my measurements slightly as my sine, cosine, and tangent did not always  produce the same angle of the sun when I looked them up on the chart.  I observed that at the beginning and end of the day the angle of the sun was smaller, and in the middle of the day the angle was the largest.


 Time: 8:46 AM
 Direction of shadow: 302° Northwest
  a = 100 "
  o = 27 "
  h = 104"

sin: 27/104 = .25
cos: 100/104 = .96
tan: 27/100 = .27

 When I looked these numbers up on the chart, the angle of the sun was 15°  for all three.


 Time: 10:40 AM
 Direction of shadow:  319° NW
 a =  57"
 o = 27"
 h  =  63 "

sin: 27/63 = .4
cos: 57/63 = .9
tan: 27/57 = .47

The angle of the sun for my sin and cos was 24° and for tan was  25°

Time: 11:35 AM
Direction of Shadow:  341° NW
a =  35 "
o = 27"
h = 44 "

sin: 27/44 = .6
cos: 35/44 = .8
tan: 27/35 = .8

The angle of the sun for my sin was  37°, for cos  36°, for tan  39°.

Time = 12:14 PM
Direction:  355°N
a =  33 "
o = 27 "
h = 42 "

sin: 27/42 = .64
cos: 33/42 = .76
tan: 27/33 = .81

The  angle for sin was  40°, cos was  41°, tan  39°

Time: 3:15 PM
 Direction:  33°NE
a =  49"
o = 27"
h = 56 "

sin: 27/56 = .48
cos: 49/56 = .875
tan: 27/49 = .55

The  angle for sin was  30°, for cos and tan  29°

 Time: 4:59 PM
 Direction:  54° NE
a =  134"
o =  27"
h = 139 "

sin: 27/139 = .2
cos: 134/139 = .96
tan: 27/134 = .201

The  angle for sin and tan  was 12°, cos was  15°