The Sun Across the Sky

    We were asked to track to progress of the sun across the Earth's sky for our Environmental Science class. We used a fixed pole found in the parking lot and measured its shadow four different times in one day. With the length of the pole (39 3/4 in) and the length of the shadow, we were able to use the formula tangent=opposite/adjacent to find the angle in which the sun was in the sky. Also, with a compass we could tell what direction the sun was. Below is the data we collected:

10:15 AM- length of shadow was 54 inches, the angle of the sun was 74 degrees in the NE sky

1:30 PM-  length of shadow was 24 1/4 inches, the angle of the sun was 164 degrees in the SE sky

3:15 PM- length of shadow was 32 inches, the angle of the sun was 124 degrees in the NW sky

5:00 PM- length of shadow was 77 inches, the angle of the sun was 52 degrees in the NW sky