Question

The Washington monument is 555 feet 5 1/8 inches tall and weighs 90,854 tons. The monument is topped by an aluminum square pyramid. The sides of the pyramid’s base measure 5.6 inches, and the pyramid is 8.9 inches tall. Estimate the slope that a face of the pyramid makes with its base.

Answer 1

3.2

Explanation:

Imagine a straight line from the top of the pyramid to the base, the point where the line will meet the base will be half the side of the pyramid. This will form a right angles triangle.

Slope is given by

`\text{Slope}=(\Delta y)/(\Delta x)\\\Rightarrow \text{Slope}=(8.9)/((5.6)/(2))=3.17857\\\Rightarrow \text{Slope}\approx3.2`

The slope of the face of the pyramid is 3.2