The Solar Anglometer
To build sculptures that cast special shadows, I needed a way to measure the angle of the sun rays hitting the sculptures. I have designed a device called a “Solar Anglometer” solar pertaining to the sun, and anglo + meter meaning measurer of angles.
Here is a Photoshop illustration of how it works.
It works off of trigonometry. A needle of height a casts a shadow of length b onto a plate with markings that give readings of the angle, which is easily calculated by plugging a and b into the formula:
alpha = tan-1(a /b)
if i needed, I could find beta by right angle geometry:
beta = 90 - alpha
following the rule of SOH - CAH - TOA where TOA stands for:
Tangent = Opposite / Adjacent.
I will use this instrument to make a chart which graphs the time of the day relative to the angle. Perhaps it’d look good if I did it in polar coordinates where I keep the angle literal and the radius is the time of day. This requires further thought… perhaps what I need to do is plot the angle and direction and then mark it with the time of day instead… Wee vector math XD!
Good thing my friend Eileen is better at math than I am, I wasn’t good at vector math.
On a related note, I just want to say a thank you to a fellow deviant, ~Relativegod for showing me an artist who uses shadows to cast shapes, just like I plan on doing.
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