Question

Some luggage pieces have wheels and a handle so that the luggage can be pulled along the ground. Suppose the length from the bottom of the bag to the place on the floor perpendicular to the hand on the bag is 14 inches, and the length of the bag with its handle is 19 inches. At which angle made by the bag and the floor would it be comfortable to roll the bag?

Answer 1

Draw a right triangle with adjacent-leg equal to the length from the bottom to the place on the floor, whose meausre is 14 inches, and the hypotenuse is 19 inches.

The trigonometric ratio cosine, relates the angle with those lengths:

cos(angle) = adjacent-leg / hypotenuse = 14 / 19

=> angle = arc cosine (14/19) = 42.5°

Answer: 42.5°