Solving for angle

Uncus

New member
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Nov 14, 2018
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Hi all,

I am trying to solve for X in the below diagram. It has been quite some time since I took geometry but I was unable to solve and I wanted to make sure that I am not missing anything.

Thanks!

rays.JPG
 
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Hi all,

I am trying to solve for X in the below diagram. It has been quite some time since I took geometry but I was unable to solve and I wanted to make sure that I am not missing anything.

Thanks!

Please demonstrate your efforts. It may help to designate which rays (starting at the Origin) actually belong to the same line.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Who gave you this diagram?

Were you asked to express X in terms of Y and/or Z?

Please post the complete text of the exercise, including the instructions. We would like also for you to familiarize yourself with the forum's basic guidelines. Thank you! :cool:
 
Hi all,

I am trying to solve for X in the below diagram. It has been quite some time since I took geometry but I was unable to solve and I wanted to make sure that I am not missing anything.

Thanks!

View attachment 10488
You can set up a system of equations and see if that will help (Hint: it won't but TRY anyways!)
 
I drew this diagram. These angles are shapes of a petrous temporal bone of the skull for research purposes. My goal is to calculate X using the two known angles. I have a list of 100 sets of angles that I need to convert if possible, which will save me a tremendous amount of time rather than going back and re-measuring all of them.

My work so far:

180 = 146 + z - x. --> z - x = 34

90 = y + X + 24 --> x + y = 66

360 = 170 + y + z + 90 --> y + z = 100

After this I wasn't able to continue to solve for x. I'm assuming that this is not solvable but before I give up I wanted to see if I am missing a theorem that might be able to solve it.

Thanks!
 
I drew this diagram. These angles are shapes of a petrous temporal bone of the skull for research purposes. My goal is to calculate X using the two known angles. I have a list of 100 sets of angles that I need to convert if possible, which will save me a tremendous amount of time rather than going back and re-measuring all of them.

My work so far:

180 = 146 + z - x. --> z - x = 34

90 = y + X + 24 --> x + y = 66

360 = 170 + y + z + 90 --> y + z = 100

After this I wasn't able to continue to solve for x. I'm assuming that this is not solvable but before I give up I wanted to see if I am missing a theorem that might be able to solve it.

Thanks!
Yep, that is as far as I got. The 3rd equation is the sum of the 1st and 2nd. That is, you do not have three independent equations.
 
… I'm assuming that this is not solvable …
Correct -- a numerical solution is not possible. X would need to be expressed in terms of Y or Z.

Visualize the rays forming the 24° angle rotating about the vertex a bit (one direction or the other). As the 24° angle's position fluctuates in QIII, either X shrinks a bit and Y grows by the same amount or vice versa.

Yet, X + 24° + Y remains 90°. So there's not enough information to determine either X or Y. Many possibilities.
 
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