G'day there One & All,

I've used XL to try to solve a simple trig problem, but the
results have thrown me somewhat. I've no doubt the fault is mine, but I
can see what's wrong.

The problem is to determine timber thicknesses along a right
angled taper:

+--5--+--5--+--5--+--5--+--5--+
|
5
|
+


I want to determine the distance from each '+' to the hypotenuse.
It should be simple enough. I use the formula '=1/TAN(5/25)' to
determine the angle, (4.933154876) and then use '=A11*TAN(RADIANS($B
$8))'. [$B$8 is where the angle is stored. A11:A15 holds the series
5,10,15,20,25].

I get the series 0.4, 0.9, 1.3, 1.7, 2.2 as a result. I know this
is incorrect since the problem itself gives the final member as 5.

I think I may have neglected a conversion between degrees &
radians somewhere, but when I try to resolve it that way the results are
more ridiculous than what I have already. Can anyone there see what I've
done wrong? The web searches I've done so far either confirm the
formulae as correct, or explain the functions in such a complex manner
that I don't understand what's going on (you can probably guess that my
high school trig knowledge is just a trifle rusty).

Thanks for listening,
Ken McLennan
Qld, Australia