Bridges are very essential for people and their travels. Without them, we would not be able to travel across water more efficiently. Many bridges have multiple shapes, and graphs. The road itself is a line, or some roads are in the shape of a parabola. Typically, bridges also have a parabola above it, as shown in the picture. In the picture, the parabola is made of small triangles. The engineers that design the bridges, use a lot of math in order to find the dimensions and to make them.
In order to find the road length, you have to find the distance between the starting and end point. In order to build the parabola, there has to be an equation first. The equation that would be used is ax2 + bx + c = 0. This equation is used to find what the parabola would look like.
In order to find how big the triangles are, you have to use a formula as well. Well, many formulas. Due to the fact that a triangle is a triangle, trig is involved. The pythagorean theorem, sine, cosine, and tangent is used. They are used to find the length of the triangle sides, and the angles of each triangle.
Caroline Foy
Sources
In order to find the road length, you have to find the distance between the starting and end point. In order to build the parabola, there has to be an equation first. The equation that would be used is ax2 + bx + c = 0. This equation is used to find what the parabola would look like.
In order to find how big the triangles are, you have to use a formula as well. Well, many formulas. Due to the fact that a triangle is a triangle, trig is involved. The pythagorean theorem, sine, cosine, and tangent is used. They are used to find the length of the triangle sides, and the angles of each triangle.
Caroline Foy
Sources
- https://prezi.com/mmh_xwbnzndv/application-of-mathematics-in-bridge-building/