Wally is rebuilding his fence. Each section of the fence will have 12 vertical boards that are each eight inches wide. He’s going to attach them to two horizontal pieces of wood and add a diagonal piece to brace the fence section. The horizontal pieces will be five feet apart.
d. If the sections are placed next to each other as shown, about what will angle α measure?
e. The gate will be made with eight of the same vertical boards used for the fence sections. The gate needs extra bracing to keep it from sagging. Wally will use three horizontal pieces of wood and two diagonal pieces to brace the gate. The horizontal pieces of wood are 28 inches apart. About how long should the diagonal pieces be? What should be their angle measurement from the horizontal pieces?