6.  The drawing shows a laser beam shining on a plane mirror that is perpendicular to the floor. The beam’s angle of incidence is 33.0°. The beam emerges from the laser at a point that is 1.10 m from the mirror and 1.80 m above the floor. After reflection, how far from the base of the mirror does the beam strike the floor?

 

w1313

 

To see how far down from the top of the mirror the laser hits, we can use the tangent function.  The length along the mirror is the opposite side of the tangent triangle and the 1.10 m is the adjacent. 

 

Solve for d

 

So the height above the floor h is given by

 

 

The distance along the floor call it L is again from a tangent

 

 

 

 

 

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This page last updated on June 28, 2018