Talk:Hypsometer

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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, now in the public domain.

== A hypsometer is a device used to help measure the altitude, (the height), of any given object. They used to be used in navigation. Hypsometers measure angles of objects that are too tall to measure with a simple ruler. When you know the length of one side of a right triangle, and the angle of the adjacent side, then you can use a formula to figure out the height of the object. A hypsometer has a half a protractor on it, and a string hanging down that passes through the number zero when it is held horizontal. When you tilt the hypsometer to be pointing at the top of the object you are measuring, you can read the angle shown, and use that angle to find the height of the object. Our hypsometer was supposed to have a techno theme, inspired by that particular genre of music. The weight hanging on the string was necessary to hold the string straight down. The five objects that we measured were; the flagpole, (to be patriotic), the MPR, (how many purposes does it really have?), the pole that has the box on it where the bells are controlled, the top of the lockers, and a light pole. The hypsometer told us the angle that was made when we pointed the hypsometer to the top point of the object, what we wanted to know is how tall the object was. To find the height of the object, we used the formula: angle= x/ distance. It is necessary Imagine that you are using a hypsometer to find the height of your house; first you point the hypsometer at the top of the house and read the angle that it shows. You then look in your math book and get the tangent that corresponds with the angle your hypsometer string gave you. Then you cross multiply your numbers, and get the height of the building. The height that you will get from the equation is not the actual height of your house. If you were lying on the ground, it would be the actual height, but since you are looking from you eye level height you must add whatever your height is to the height the hypsometer equation gave you.

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