Spherical Law of Cosines

Ava Martellaro
11C

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My Destinations

1. Home
2. Disneyland Paris
3. Walt Disneyworld
4. Disneyland California
5. Home

2
Disneyland Paris

• An entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France

• The most visited theme park in all of Europe
• 13.4 million visitors per year

http://cdn2.dlp-
media.com/resize/mwImage/1/900/360/75/wdpromedia.disney.go.com/media/wdpro-dlp- 3
assets/prod/en-us/system/images/n013047_2019may13_sleeping-beauty-castle_900x360.jpg
Attractions

• Mad Hatter's Tea Cups

• Buzz Light-year Laser Blast
• Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain

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Walt Disneyworld

• An entertainment complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista,

Florida
• Contains parks, waterparks, and luxury hotels
• Magic Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon Water Park, Contemporary Resort
• The most visited vacation resort in the world
• Over 52 million visitors a year

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Attractions

• It’s a Small World

• Haunted Mansion
• Space Mountain

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Disneyland California

• Theme park in Anaheim, California

• Around 20 million visitors a year

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Attractions

• Dumbo the Flying Elephant

• Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
• Mickey’s Wheel

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Coordinates

Destination Latitude Longitude

Home 42°33’23.04” N 83°1’9.48” W

Disneyland Paris 48°52’19.92” N 2°46’32.88” E

Walt Disneyworld 28°23’6.72” N 81°33’23.04” W

Disneyland California 33°48’43.56” N 117°55’8.4” W

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Spherical Law of Cosines Procedure

• I used the coordinates to find the angle measurements b, c, and

A
• Then, I used the spherical law of cosines to find the angle
between my destinations, angle a
• cos(a) = cos(b)∙cos(c) + sin(b)∙sin(c)∙cos(A)
• Finally, I found the length using the arc
length formula, arc length = 2πR a/360,
where R is the radius (3960 miles) and a
is the angle measure found previously.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Spheri
cal_trigonometry_basic_triangle.svg/200px-
Spherical_trigonometry_basic_triangle.svg.png 10
Home to Disneyland Paris

Home 42°33’23.04” N 83°1’9.48” W

Disneyland Paris 48°52’19.92” N 2°46’32.88” E

a
Home Disneyland Paris

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 Home to Disneyland Paris

Home Disneyland
Paris
2°46’32.88”
b c 83°1’9.48”
42°33’23.04”
A
48°52’19.92”

North
90°0’0” 90°0’0” Pole
-42°33’23.04” 83°1’9.48
-48°52’19.92” +2°46’32.88
47°26’36.96” 41°7’40.08”
b = 47°26’36.96” 85°47’42.36”
c = 41°7’40.08” A = 85°47’42.36”

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Home to Disneyland Paris
cos(a) = cos(b)∙cos(c) + sin(b)∙sin(c)∙cos(A)
cos(a) = cos(47°26’36.96” )∙cos(41°7’40.08” ) +
sin(47°26’36.96” )∙sin(41°7’40.08” )∙cos(85°47’42.36”)
a = cos-1 (0.545)
a = 56.98°
56.98
∙ (2π ∙3960) = m
360
M = 3938.06 miles

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Disneyland Paris to Walt Disneyworld

Disneyland Paris 48°52’19.92” N 2°46’32.88” E

Walt Disneyworld 28°23’6.72” N 81°33’23.04” W

a
Walt Disneyworld Disneyland Paris

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 Disneyland Paris to Walt Disneyworld

Disneyland Walt
Paris Disneyworld
2°46’32.88”
b c 81°33’50.04”A
48°52’19.92” 28°23’6.72”

North
90°0’0” 90°0’0” Pole
-48°52’19.92” 81°33’50.04
- 28°23’6.72 +2°46’32.88
41°7’40.08” 61°36’53.28”
b = 41°7’40.08” 84°20’19.68”
c = 61°36’53.28” A = 84°20’19.68”

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Disneyland Paris to Walt Disneyworld
cos(a) = cos(b)∙cos(c) + sin(b)∙sin(c)∙cos(A)
cos(a) = cos(41°7’40.08”)∙cos(61°36’53.28”) +
sin(41°7’40.08” )∙sin(61°36’53.28”)∙cos(84°20’19.68”)
a = cos-1 (0.415)
a = 65.47°
65.47
∙ (2π ∙3960) = m
360
M = 4524.95 miles

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Walt Disneyworld to Disneyland California

Walt Disneyworld 28°23’6.72” N 81°33’23.04” W

Disneyland California 33°48’43.56” N 117°55’8.4” W

a
Walt Disneyworld Disneyland California

(not drawn to scale)

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 Walt Disneyworld to Disneyland California
Walt Disneyland
Disneyworld California

b c 81°33’50.04”
28°23’6.72” 33°48’43.56”
A
117°55’8.4” North
90°0’0” 90°0’0” Pole
-28°23’6.72 117°55’8.4”
- 33°48’43.56” - 81°33’50.04
61°36’53.28” 56°11’16.44”
b = 61°36’53.28” 36°21’18.36”
c = 56°11’16.44” A = 36°21’18.36”

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Walt Disneyworld to Disneyland California
cos(a) = cos(b)∙cos(c) + sin(b)∙sin(c)∙cos(A)
cos(a) = cos(61°36’53.28”)∙cos(56°11’16.44”) +
sin(61°36’53.28” )∙sin(56°11’16.44”)∙cos(36°21’18.36”)
a = cos-1 (0.853)
a = 31.43°
31.43
∙ (2π ∙3960) = m
360
M = 2172.57 miles

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Disneyland California to Home

Disneyland California 33°48’43.56” N 117°55’8.4” W

Home 42°33’23.04” N 83°1’9.48” W

a
Walt Disneyworld Disneyland California

(not drawn to scale)

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 Disneyland California to Home
Disneyland
California Home

b c 83°1’9.48”
33°48’43.56” 42°33’23.04”
A
117°55’8.4” North
90°0’0” 90°0’0” Pole
- 33°48’43.56” 117°55’8.4”
-42°33’23.04” - 83°1’9.48”
56°11’16.44” 47°26’36.96”
b = 56°11’16.44” 34°53’58.92”
c = 47°26’36.96” A = 34°53’58.92”

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Disneyland California to Home
cos(a) = cos(b)∙cos(c) + sin(b)∙sin(c)∙cos(A)
cos(a) = cos(56°11’16.44”)∙cos(47°26’36.96”) +
sin(56°11’16.44”)∙sin(47°26’36.96”)∙cos(34°53’58.92”)
a = cos-1 (0.878)
a = 28.56°
28.56
∙ (2π ∙3960) = m
360
M = 1974.00 miles

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Conclusion

• I traveled a total of 12,609.59 miles

• I learned how to use the spherical law of cosines
• I had fun at the three Disney parks!

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Sources
• “Disneyland® Park.” Theme Parks , Disney, 9 Nov. 2017, www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/.

• “Magic Kingdom Park Hours.” Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, Disney, 9 Nov. 2017, disneyworld.disney.go.com/.

• “Disneyland® Official Site.” Disneyland Resort, Disney, 9 Nov. 2017, disneyland.disney.go.com/.

• “Disneyland Paris Coordinates.” Google Search, Google,

www.google.com/search?ei=ytoEWsDELIe0jwSumYiwDg&q=disneyland%2Bparis%2Bcoordinates&oq=disneyland%2Bparis%2Bcoordinates&gs_l=psy-
ab.3..0j0i7i30k1l2.2415.6576.0.6812.18.18.0.0.0.0.130.1792.5j12.17.0....0...1.1.64.psy-
ab..4.14.1474...0i67k1j0i131k1j0i13k1j0i20i263k1.0.LA9OrriF0kk.

• “Willow Woods Coordinates.” Google Search, Google, www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=v9oEWu-

FB4nejwTKr634CA&q=willow%2Bwoods%2Belementary%2Bcoordinates&oq=willow%2Bwoods%2Belementary%2Bcoordinates&gs_l=psy-
ab.3...1862.10488.0.11003.42.38.3.0.0.0.163.3673.12j21.33.0....0...1.1.64.psy-
ab..6.35.3609.0..0j38j0i131k1j0i20i264k1j0i67k1j0i46i67k1j46i67k1j0i10k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1.0.m1r4FMUKmwI.
• “Disneyland California Coordinates.” Google Search, Google,
www.google.com/search?biw=1366&bih=662&ei=g9sEWrc36NCPBJ79lOgB&q=disneyland%2Bcoordinates&oq=disneyland%2Bcoordinates&gs_l=psy-
ab.12...0.0.0.5971.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.DvDQcfnvzzY.

• “Walt Disneyworld Coordinates.” Google Search, Google,

www.google.com/search?biw=1366&bih=662&ei=ndsEWu6XNMiUjwSXl7XwDg&q=walt%2Bdisney%2Bworld%2Bcoordinates&oq=walt%2Bdisney%2Bwo
rld%2Bcoordinates&gs_l=psy-ab.12...0.0.0.1043.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1..64.psy-ab..0.0.0....0.hHPvRnEuOgs.
• “Walt Disneyworld.” Wikivoyage, 13 Oct. 2017, en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World.

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