Basic Trigonometric Ratios: Examples (page 2 of 2)

List the values of sin(), cos(), sin(), and tan() for the triangle below, accurate to three decimal places:

For either angle, the hypotenuse has length 9.7. For the angle , "opposite" is 6.5 and "adjacent" is 7.2, so the sine of will be 6.5/9.7 = 0.6701030928... and the cosine of will be7.2/9.7 = 0.7422680412.... For the angle , "opposite" is 7.2 and "adjacent" is 6.5, so the sine of will be 7.2/9.7 = 0.7422680412... and the tangent of will be 7.2/6.5 = 1.107692308.... Rounding to three decimal places, I get:

sin() = 0.670, cos() = 0.742, sin() = 0.742, tan() = 1.108

Once you've memorized the trig ratios, you can start using them to find other values. You'll likely need to use a calculator. If your calculator does not have keys or menu options with "SIN", "COS", and "TAN", then now is the time to upgrade! Make sure you know how to use the calculator, too; the owners manual should have clear instructions. In the triangle shown below, find the value of x, accurate to three decimal places.

They've given me an angle measure and the length of the side "opposite" this angle, and have asked me for the length of the hypotenuse. The sine ratio is "opposite over hypotenuse", so I can turn what they've given me into an equation:

sin(20) = 65/x x = 65/sin(20)

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I have to plug this into my calculator to get the value of

x: x = 190.047286...

x = 190.047
Note: If your calculator displayed a value of 71.19813587..., then check the "mode": your calculator is set to "radians" rather than to "degrees". You'll learn about radians later.

For the triangle shown, find the value of y, accurate to four decimal places. They've given me an angle, a value for "adjacent", and a variable for "opposite", so I can form an equation:

tan(55.3) = y/10 10tan(55.3) = y

Plugging this into my calculator, I get

y = 14.44183406....

y = 14.4418
Find the angles and sides indicated by the letters in the diagram. Give each answer correct to the nearest whole number. At first, this looks fairly intimidating. But then I notice that, to find the length of the height r, I can use the base angle 30 and the full base length of60, because r/60 is "opposite" over "adjacent", which is the tangent.

r/60 = tan(30) r = 60tan(30) = 34.64101615...

I'm supposed to the nearest whole number, so r

= 35.

Now that I have the value of r, I can use r and the other base angle, 55, to find the length of the other base, s, by using r/s = tan(55):

35/s = tan(55) 35/tan(55) = s = 24.50726384... r = 35, s = 25

Note: Since the sine and cosine ratios involve dividing a leg (one of the shorter two sides) by the hypotenuse, the values will never be more than 1, because (some number) / (a bigger number) from a right triangle is always going to be smaller than 1. But you can have really wide and short or really tall and skinny right triangles, so "opposite" and "adjacent" can have very different values. This tells you that the tangent ratio, being (opposite) / (adjacent), can have very large and very small values, depending on the triangle.

Law of Sines Formula

When to use the law of sines formula.

You should use the law of sines when you know 2 sides and an angle (case 1 in the picture below) and you want to find the measure of an angle opposite a known side. Or when you know 2 angles and 1 side and want to get the side opposite a known angle (case 2 in picture below). In both cases, you must already know a side and an angle that are opposite of each other.

Cases when you can not use the Law of Sines

The picture below illustrates a case not suited for the law of sines. Since we do not know an opposite side and angle, we cannot employ the law of sines formula. (By the way, we could use the law of cosines to find the length of the side opposite the 115 angle. Once
we know that side length ,we'd be able to use the law of sines as indicated by case 1 in the picture up above.)

Look at each triangle below and, based on the given information, decide whether you could use the Law of Sines, the Law of Cosines (or neither) Triangle 1 and 2 are clear candidates for the law of sines Triangle 1 (top left) - Law of Sines Triangle 2 (Top Left)

Triangle 3( Bottom Left) To get the measure of x . You wold first need to use the law of cosines to get the length of the side opposite the 115 triangle. From there you could use the law of sines

Triangle 4( Bottom Right) Since the sum of the measure of the interior angles of a triangle is 180, you can find the measure of the 3rd angle . From there you could use the law of sines to calculate the length of side x.

Decide which formula (law of Sines/Cosines) you would use to calculate the value of x below? After you decide that, try to set up the equation(Do not solve--just substitute into the proper formula) Since you know 3 sides, and are trying to find an angle this is Law of Cosines problem. 8 = 5 + 6 -2(5)(6)(cos(x))

Decide which formula (law of Sines/Cosines) you would use to calculate the value of x below? After you decide that, try to set up the equation(Do not solve--just substitute into the proper formula) Since you know 2 sides , their included angle, and you are trying to find the side length opposite the angle, this is Law of Cosines problem. x = 11 + 7 -2(11)(7)(cos(50))

Decide which formula (law of Sines/Cosines) you would use to calculate the value of x below? After you decide that, try to set up the equation(Do not solve--just substitute into the proper formula) Since you know a side length (11) and its opposite angle (50) and want to the angle measurement opposite the length of side 7, this is a law of sines problem