Real Life Applications of Geometry

Geometry Level 5

We all know that in summers days are longer and nights are shorter. So let's apply a little geometry to calculate the hours of daylight in a complete day.

Let the percentage of hours of daylight out of total hours in a complete day be x x . What is the value of ( 10 x 500 ) \left\lfloor(10 x-500) \right\rfloor ?

Details and Assumptions

  • We are talking about the day of summer solstice in Jaipur.

  • The latitude of jaipur is 27 { 27 }^{ \circ }

  • The tilt of the earth's axis 23.5 { 23.5 }^{ \circ }

  • Assume earth to be perfectly spherical, ceteris paribus.

  • Use of scientific calculator is advised for the calculations to get the right accuracy.

Image Credit: Wikimedia Amcanada


The answer is 71.

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1 solution

It would be easier if I could post images here, but I don't. Wonder if any one can help me.

Let Earth's axis be the z-axis and the Sun is in the direction of x-axis. On summer solstice day, The line joining the centers of the Earth and Sum is normal to the Tropic of Cancer at 23. 5 o N 23.5^oN . Looking along the y-axis, we see the day-night line is at an angle of 23. 5 o 23.5^o with the z-axis and Jaipur at 2 7 o N 27^oN has more daylight than night.

Still looking along the y-axis, let the extra distance into daylight along the x-axis at 2 7 o N 27^oN be a a . And if the Earth's radius is R R then:

a = R sin 2 7 o tan 23. 5 o a = R\sin {27^o} \tan {23.5^o}

The 2 7 o N 27^oN circle has a radius r = R cos 2 7 o r = R \cos {27^o} . And if the angle of the arc in night darkness is θ \theta , we note that:

a = r cos θ 2 = R cos 2 7 o cos θ 2 a = r \cos { \frac {\theta} {2} } = R \cos {27^o} \cos { \frac {\theta} {2} }

cos θ 2 = tan 2 7 o tan 23. 5 o = 0.509525449 × 0.434812375 = 0.221547971 \Rightarrow \cos { \frac {\theta} {2} } = \tan {27^o} \tan {23.5^o} = 0.509525449 \times 0.434812375 = 0.221547971

θ 2 = cos 1 0.221547971 = 77.2000309 5 o θ = 154.400061 9 o \Rightarrow \frac {\theta}{2} = \cos^{-1} { 0.221547971} = 77.20003095^o\quad \Rightarrow \theta = 154.4000619^o

Therefore, the percentage of daylight,

x = 100 ( 1 θ 36 0 o ) = 100 ( 1 154.400061 9 o 36 0 o ) = 57.11109391 % x = 100 \left( 1 - \frac {\theta}{360^o} \right) = 100 \left( 1 - \frac {154.4000619^o }{360^o} \right) = 57.11109391\%

The required answer 10 x 500 = 571.1109391 500 = 71 \lfloor 10x - 500 \rfloor = \lfloor 571.1109391 - 500 \rfloor = \boxed {71}

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