Trigonometric Functions

and its Connection to

Similar Triangles.
Group 8 members:
Stephanie Torres
Santiago Rodriguez
Roxana Tinoco
Phillip Scott

Angle Relationships and Similar Triangles.

Vertical angles have equal measured.

Parallel lines are lines that lie in the same plane and do not intersect. When a line q intersects two parallel lines, q is called
a transversal. In the following figure the transversal intersecting the parallel lines forms eight angles.

Categories of angles

Parallel lines and a transversal from the following categories of angles

What is a triangle?

In Euclidean plane,
An inclosed three sided figure.
The sum of the interiors add to 180.

Angle Sum of a Triangle

The sum of the measures on the angles of any triangle is 180

How can we determine 2 triangles are similar?

Two triangles are similar if and only if both live on the plane and one is the image
of the other under a similarity transformation.
A similarity transformation is a composition of rigid transformations and a dilation.

Proof of Similar Triangles

Translate triangle DEF to

triangle ABC.
Thus, our center of dilation is
point A.
A dilation with center A and
factor kR^+ is a
transformation that maps point
B to B such that B lies on ray
AB and d(A,B) = kd(AB) and
A=A.

Ways of proving triangles are similar

SSS: All three sides of the triangles are proportional.
SAS: Two sides are proportional and one angle is congruent.
AAA: All angles of the triangles are congruent to all angles of another triangle.
These can all be done by using the Splitting Theorem and the converse of the
Splitting Theorem.
Note: Any two right triangles are always similar if they have a congruent angle.

Ratios
Because ratios depend only one
angle.. the ratios are always fixed.
For any right triangle that has angle
, the ratio between opp/hyp, adj/hyp,
opp/adj.
Thus, trigonometric functions is
comparing similar right triangles.

Because the ratios are always fixed, trigonometry is born.

Trigonometric functions
Trigonometry comes from the greek word trigonometria which means the
measurement of triangles.
A trigonometric function, is the ratio of the length of any of the two sides of a right
triangle which satisfies the following statement:
f() = (a/b) or f(a/b) =

f() = (a/b) or f(a/b) =

f()= opp/opp
f()=opp/ hyp = sin
f()=adj/ hyp = cos
f()= opp/adj = tan
f()=adj/ adj
f()= hyp/ opp = cosecant
f()=hyp/ adj =secant
f()= adj/ opp = cotangent
f()= hyp/ hyp

SOHCAHTOA

What is so special about right triangles?

We have right triangles from which we can
derive other types of triangles.
30, 60, 90
45, 45, 90

How?

Back to Basics..
Unit Circle

1st quadrant of the unit circle

based

We can create triangles by forming right angles

off of the given angles.

Using these established ratios to form the rest

of the unit circle.

The rest of the Unit Circle

Since the two triangles are
similar(in this case congruent).
It is easy to see that the ratio
would still remain.

Resources
Trig functions: Overview Retrieved from
http://math2.org/math/algebra/functions/trig/