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TrigonometryForDummies
FromTrigonometryForDummies,2ndEditionbyMaryJaneSterling
Trigonometryisthestudyoftriangles,whichcontainangles,ofcourse.Gettoknowsomespecialrulesfor
anglesandvariousotherimportantfunctions,definitions,andtranslations.Sinesandcosinesaretwotrig
functionsthatfactorheavilyintoanystudyoftrigonometrytheyhavetheirownformulasandrulesthatyoull
wanttounderstandifyouplantostudytrigforverylong.
FormulastoHelpYouinTrigonometry
Manyoftheformulasusedintrigonometryarealsofoundinalgebraand
analyticgeometry.Buttrigonometryalsohassomespecialformulasusually
foundjustinthosediscussions.Aformulaprovidesyouaruleorequationthat
youcancountontowork,everysingletime.Aformulagivesarelationship
betweenparticularquantitiesandunits.Themaintricktousingformulasisto
knowwhatthedifferentlettersrepresent.Intheformulasgivenhere,youhave:
r(radius)d(diameterordistance)b(baseormeasureofaside)h(height)a,
b,c(measuresofsides)x,y(coordinatesonagraph)m(slope)M(midpoint)
h,k(horizontalandverticaldistancesfromthecenter)(angletheta)ands
(arclength).Theformulasparticulartotrigonometryhave:sin(sine),cos
(cosine),andtan(tangent),althoughonlysinisrepresentedhere.
SpecialRightTriangles
Everyrighttrianglehasthepropertythatthesumofthesquaresofthetwolegs
isequaltothesquareofthehypotenuse(thelongestside).ThePythagorean

theoremiswritten:a
2
+b
2
=c
2
.Whatssospecialaboutthetworighttriangles
shownhereisthatyouhaveanevenmorespecialrelationshipbetweenthe
measuresofthesidesonethatgoesbeyond(butstillworkswith)the
Pythagoreantheorem.Whenyouhavea306090righttriangle,themeasure
ofthehypotenuseisalwaystwicethemeasureoftheshortestside,andthe
otherlegisalways
orabout1.7timesasbigastheshortestside.Withtheisoscelesrighttriangle,
thetwolegsmeasurethesame,andthehypotenuseisalways
orabout1.4timesaslongasthosetwolegs.
RightTriangleDefinitionsforTrigonometryFunctions
Thebasictrigfunctionscanbedefinedwithratioscreatedbydividingthe
lengthsofthesidesofarighttriangleinaspecificorder.Thelabelhypotenuse
alwaysremainsthesameitsthelongestside.Butthedesignationsof
oppositeandadjacentcanchangedependingonwhichangleyoure
referringtoatthetime.Theoppositesideisalwaysthatsidethatdoesnthelp
makeuptheangle,andtheadjacentsideisalwaysoneofthesidesofthe
angle.
CoordinateDefinitionsforTrigonometryFunctions
Thetrigfunctionscanbedefinedusingthemeasuresofthesidesofaright
triangle.Buttheyalsohaveveryusefuldefinitionsusingthecoordinatesof
pointsonagraph.First,letletthevertexofananglebeattheoriginthe
point(0,0)andlettheinitialsideofthatangleliealongthepositivexaxis
andtheterminalsidebearotationinacounterclockwisemotion.Then,when
thepoint(x,y)liesonacirclethatsintersectedbythatterminalside,thetrig
functionsaredefinedwiththefollowingratios,whereristheradiusofthe
circle.
SignsofTrigonometryFunctionsinQuadrants
Anangleisinstandardpositionwhenitsvertexisattheorigin,itsinitialsideis
onthepositivexaxis,andtheterminalsiderotatescounterclockwisefromthe
initialside.Thepositionoftheterminalsidedeterminesthesignofthevarious
trigfunctionsofthatangle.Thefollowingshowsyouwhichfunctionsare
positiveandyoucanassumethattheotherfunctionsarenegativeinthat
quadrant.
Degree/RadianEquivalencesforSelectedAngles
Asyoustudytrigonometry,you'llfindoccasionswhenyouneedtochange
degreestoradians,orviceversa.Aformulaforchangingfromdegreesto
radiansorradianstodegreesis:
Theformulaworksforanyangle,butthemostcommonlyusedanglesand
theirequivalencesareshownbelow.
LawsofSinesandCosines
Thelawsofsinesandcosinesgiveyourelationshipsbetweenthelengthsof
thesidesandthetrigfunctionsoftheangles.Theselawsareusedwhenyou
donthavearighttriangletheyworkinanytriangle.Youdeterminewhich
lawtousebasedonwhatinformationyouhave.Ingeneral,thesidealies
oppositeangleA,thesidebisoppositeangleB,andsidecisoppositeangle
C.
DummiesRecommends
TrigIdentitiesforPreCalculus
HowtoSolveforaMissingRight
TriangleLength
UnderstandingTrigonometryTerms
HowtoUseSohCahToatoFindthe
TrigFunctionsofaRightTriangle
HowtoGraphSine,Cosine,and
Tangent
FromAroundtheWeb
ExactTrigonometryFunctionsforSelectedAcute
Angles
Usingthelengthsofthesidesofthetwospecialrighttrianglesthe306090
righttriangleandthe454590righttrianglethefollowingexactvaluesfor
trigfunctionsarefound.Usingthesevaluesinconjunctionwithreference
anglesandsignsofthefunctionsinthedifferentquadrants,youcandetermine
theexactvaluesofthemultiplesoftheseangles.
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