Geometry Question!! Yay!
 

Are there any smart folks even here at this hour? I can't remember how to figure this- I think it might have something to do with Euclid's Prostitute . . .

I have a floor that needs to slope "into the floor" at a 29 degree angle over an 11 foot span. How high does the platform have to be at the highest end?

Smart folk! He'p!

6.0974 feet

Tan (29) = 6.0974/11

I guess I better make sure I understand the situation. You're building a ramp. The ramp meets the floor at a 29 degree angle, the floor is horizontal. The ramp is a straight line, so is the floor. If you hung a plumb bob off the raised end of the ramp it would touch the floor 11 feet from where the ramp meets the floor.

6 feet! Wow. Okay, so the slope of a theater floor is NOT 29 degrees as posted on another site. I think most of those floors drop about 8' over a span of 40'.

Might be 29%? The grades on roads going over hills are usually percents. 100%=45 degrees.

An 8 in 40 grade is 23%

Yeah, 29 degrees is a huge slope. Most of us would get down on our butts to descend a 29 deg slope. My roof is probably around 29 deg and I dasn't venture on the thing. Your gnarliest 4x4 can't climb a 29 deg slope of loose material. The balliest skier puckers up descending a 29 deg slope. Chuck Norris kicked a 29 deg slope once, and broke his foot.

Yeah, but he's in his 70s. :D

29% makes more sense- although it would be fun to watch people trying to get to their seats with a 29 degree floor. Maybe I should take some equipment next time I go catch a film.

Do you have one of those smart phones? I have seen a program for them that makes them an inclinometer using their internal accelerometers. Impressive gadgets they are.

Just make sure you measure the "level" part at the top of the ramp, in addition to the ramp, then take the difference. This will make sure you are not adding the un-level-ness of the whole theater to the ramp slope.

Just because it wasn't mentioned already, 26.8% grade would be a 15 degree slope. Slap that into the formula mentioned above, and you have a 2.947 elevation difference.