Pre-Calculus in Architecture
Emilee Daniel-Next High School-Honors
The Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza showcases just how long triangles have been trusted to hold up structures!
Knowledge Gained:
Architecture
Pre-Cal in the "Real World"
Trigonometry
Trigonometry is a branch of math that studies the relationships between triangle's sides and angles. Also, it just so happens to feature those 'fancy' terms on your graphing calculator like sine, cosine, and tangent. Finally, there are many buildings that feature triangles!
Outside of education, many pepole struggle to find a career that needs a working knowledge of math past about the sixth grade. However, the higher-level-ish math discipline of trigonometry is prevalent in the field of architecture.
Architecture is the art of designing structures to not only look pretty but to funtion and stand the tests of time both physically and visually. There are two very famous landmarks that showcase the connections between Trigonometry and Architecture.
I learned that higher-ish-level math can be used outside of a classroom to have actual impact on someone's life. Also, being able to know angles of triangles can help architects know if their structure will be a sturdy as possible. Finally, I learned that I do not want to be an architect.
Great Pyramid of Giza.
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza
Louvre Pyramid.
Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre_Pyramid
The Louvre Museum Pyramid
The Louvre Museum Pyramid offers a more current example of pre-calculus in architecture having been built in 1989.