After a seemingly nonexistent spring, it appeared that summer was here - if only to arrive in mid June. When summer came to Minnesota, this year it was all or nothing. From frozen lakes on fishing opener to some of the most violent storms the state has seen across the northwest plains. Lake Osakis, was unfortunately about to discover just how violent summer can be.
The Story:
It was six in the morning, and I had been tossing and turning for the better part of a couple hours (probably dreading the homework I had in store for myself). All of a sudden my phone rings and my good friend and former teacher, Ron, is frantic. "My neighbor at the lake called me and said my boat is totaled! We have to get up there right now!" I agreed and informed him that we needed to be back by one in the afternoon, as I had an appointment that I couldn't break. He arrived at my home, and we jumped in the truck and hurried to his cabin.
Upon our arrival, we couldn't believe our eyes. Nearly the entire South shore of the lake looked like it had been hit by a hurricane - come to find out that the winds were 90+ miles per hour, with waves reaching 5-6 feet. The entire South shore of boats, docks, and boat lifts looked like the backyard of an aluminum scrapyard. The task at hand: Get the boat off of the bottom of the lake, out from under a collapsed dock, and onto the trailer. The difficult part: the boat was nearly split in half and was full of seaweed, water, mud, and who knows what else. The only way we had to get the boat out was to hoist it by crane (which was already one scene). The boat, at 17.5 feet long and 7.5 feet wide had to balance on two straps that were approximately 6" wide and 1/4" thick while being hoisted several feet up into the air and over the embankment
The Mathematical Concept:
The embankment was 12 feet below the road level, and 14 feet from the road out to where the boat was sitting. How far was the boat moved from the point it was sitting, to the point where it was placed on the trailer? (The trailer was approximately 2 feet higher than the surface of the road, and 2 feet in). So: 14 feet above road level, and 16 feet in from the boats position. What is the hypotenuse length (the length of travel in the air)?
Use the Pythagorean theorem: a^2 + b^2 = c^2
14^2 + 16^2
196 + 256 = c^2
c^2 = 452. The square root of 452 is approximately 21.3 feet.
Why is this interesting?
This concept is interesting to me because I found it a challenge to figure out the distance the boat traveled. I pictured the boat sliding up planks on the embankment (which we did not use). And for me to understand how to figure out the distance it traveled was similar to me having to figure the distance (in length) we would have needed had we used planks. This type of math is practical in every day application, and it shows you that you never know when you may need it.
Enjoy a couple of pictures from the damage!
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