Trigonometry

Trigonometry
The Canadarm2 robotic manipulator

on the International Space Station is
operated by controlling the angles of its
joints. Calculating the final position of the
astronaut at the end of the arm requires
repeated use of trigonometric functions of
those angles.
Trigonometry
Outline History Usage
Functions (inverse)
Generalized trigonometry
Ref erence
Identities Exact constants Tables
Laws and t heorems
Sines Cosines Tangents Cotangents
Pythagorean theorem
Calculus
Trigonometric substitution
Integrals (inverse functions)
Derivatives
v t e
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Trig" redirects here. For other uses, see Trig (disambiguation).
Trigonometry (f rom Greek trignon,
"triangle" and metron, "measure"
[1]
) is
a branch of mathematics that
studies relationships involving
lengths and angles of triangles. The
f ield emerged during the 3rd century
BC f rom applications of geometry to
astronomical studies.
[2]
The 3rd-century astronomers f irst
noted that the lengths of the sides
of a right-angle triangle and the
angles between those sides have
f ixed relationships: that is, if at least
the length of one side and the value
of one angle is known, then all other
angles and lengths can be
determined algorithmically. These
calculations soon came to be
def ined as the trigonometric
f unctions and today are pervasive
in both pure and applied
mathematics: f undamental
methods of analysis such as the
Fourier transf orm, f or example, or
the wave equation, use
trigonometric f unctions to
understand cyclical phenomena
across many applications in f ields
as diverse as physics, mechanical
and electrical engineering, music
and acoustics, astronomy, ecology, and biology. Trigonometry is also the
f oundation of surveying.
Trigonometry is most simply associated with planar right-angle triangles
(each of which is a two-dimensional triangle with one angle equal to 90
degrees). The applicability to non-right-angle triangles exists, but, since any
non-right-angle triangle (on a f lat plane) can be bisected to create two right-
angle triangles, most problems can be reduced to calculations on right-angle
triangles. Thus the majority of applications relate to right-angle triangles. One
exception to this is spherical trigonometry, the study of triangles on spheres,
surf aces of constant positive curvature, in elliptic geometry (a f undamental
part of astronomy and navigation). Trigonometry on surf aces of negative
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Trigonometry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 25/09/2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trigonometry 1 / 9
Hipparchus, credited with
compiling the first trigonometric
table, is known as "the father of
trigonometry".
[3]
curvature is part of hyperbolic geometry.
Trigonometry basics are of ten taught in schools, either as a separate course
or as a part of a precalculus course.
Cont ent s [hide]
1 History
2 Overview
2.1 Extending the definitions
2.2 Mnemonics
2.3 Calculating trigonometric functions
3 Applications of trigonometry
4 Pythagorean identities
5 Angle transformation formulas
6 Common formulas
6.1 Law of sines
6.2 Law of cosines
6.3 Law of tangents
6.4 Euler's formula
7 See also
8 References
9 Bibliography
10 External links
History [edit]
Main article: History of trigonometry
Sumerian astronomers studied angle
measure, using a division of circles into 360
degrees.
[4]
They, and later the Babylonians,
studied the ratios of the sides of similar
triangles and discovered some properties of
these ratios but did not turn that into a
systematic method f or f inding sides and
angles of triangles. The ancient Nubians
used a similar method.
[5]
In the 3rd century BCE, classical Greek
mathematicians (such as Euclid and
Archimedes) studied the properties of chords
and inscribed angles in circles, and they
proved theorems that are equivalent to
modern trigonometric f ormulae, although they
presented them geometrically rather than algebraically.
The modern sine f unction was f irst def ined in the Surya Siddhanta, and its
properties were f urther documented by the 5th century (CE) Indian
mathematician and astronomer Aryabhata.
[6]
These Greek and Indian works
were translated and expanded by medieval Islamic mathematicians. By the
10th century, Islamic mathematicians were using all six trigonometric
f unctions, had tabulated their values, and were applying them to problems in
spherical geometry.
[citation needed]
At about the same time, Chinese
mathematicians developed trigonometry independently, although it was not a
major f ield of study f or them. Knowledge of trigonometric f unctions and
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In this right triangle: sin A = a/c;
cos A = b/c; tan A = a/b.
methods reached Europe via Latin translations of the works of Persian and
Arabic astronomers such as Al Battani and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi.
[7]
One of the
earliest works on trigonometry by a European mathematician is De Triangulis
by the 15th century German mathematician Regiomontanus. Trigonometry
was still so little known in 16th-century Europe that Nicolaus Copernicus
devoted two chapters of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium to explain its
basic concepts.
Driven by the demands of navigation and the growing need f or accurate maps
of large geographic areas, trigonometry grew into a major branch of
mathematics.
[8]
Bartholomaeus Pitiscus was the f irst to use the word,
publishing his Trigonometria in 1595.
[9]
Gemma Frisius described f or the f irst
time the method of triangulation still used today in surveying. It was Leonhard
Euler who f ully incorporated complex numbers into trigonometry. The works
of James Gregory in the 17th century and Colin Maclaurin in the 18th century
were inf luential in the development of trigonometric series.
[10]
Also in the 18th
century, Brook Taylor def ined the general Taylor series.
[11]
Overview [edit]
It has been suggested that this article be
merged with Trigonometric function. (Discuss)
Proposed since May 2014.
Main article: Trigonometric function
If one angle of a triangle is 90
degrees and one of the other
angles is known, the third is
thereby f ixed, because the three
angles of any triangle add up to
180 degrees. The two acute angles
theref ore add up to 90 degrees:
they are complementary angles.
The shape of a triangle is
completely determined, except f or
similarity, by the angles. Once the
angles are known, the ratios of the
sides are determined, regardless of the overall size of the triangle. If the
length of one of the sides is known, the other two are determined. These
ratios are given by the f ollowing trigonometric f unctions of the known angle
A, where a, b and c ref er to the lengths of the sides in the accompanying
f igure:
Sine f unction (sin), def ined as the ratio of the side opposite the angle to
the hypotenuse.
Cosine f unction (cos), def ined as the ratio of the adjacent leg to the
hypotenuse.
Tangent f unction (tan), def ined as the ratio of the opposite leg to the
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Fig. 1a Sine and cosine of an angle
defined using the unit circle.
adjacent leg.
The hypotenuse is the side opposite to the 90 degree angle in a right
triangle; it is the longest side of the triangle and one of the two sides
adjacent to angle A. The adjacent leg is the other side that is adjacent to
angle A. The opposite side is the side that is opposite to angle A. The terms
perpendicular and base are sometimes used f or the opposite and adjacent
sides respectively. Many people f ind it easy to remember what sides of the
right triangle are equal to sine, cosine, or tangent, by memorizing the word
SOH-CAH-TOA (see below under Mnemonics).
The reciprocals of these f unctions are named the cosecant (csc or cosec),
secant (sec), and cotangent (cot), respectively:
The inverse f unctions are called the arcsine, arccosine, and arctangent,
respectively. There are arithmetic relations between these f unctions, which
are known as trigonometric identities. The cosine, cotangent, and cosecant
are so named because they are respectively the sine, tangent, and secant of
the complementary angle abbreviated to "co-".
With these f unctions one can answer virtually all questions about arbitrary
triangles by using the law of sines and the law of cosines. These laws can be
used to compute the remaining angles and sides of any triangle as soon as
two sides and their included angle or two angles and a side or three sides are
known. These laws are usef ul in all branches of geometry, since every
polygon may be described as a f inite combination of triangles.
Ext ending t he def init ions [edit]
The above def initions only apply to
angles between 0 and 90 degrees (0
and /2 radians). Using the unit
circle, one can extend them to all
positive and negative arguments
(see trigonometric f unction). The
trigonometric f unctions are periodic,
with a period of 360 degrees or 2
radians. That means their values
repeat at those intervals. The
tangent and cotangent f unctions
also have a shorter period, of 180
degrees or radians.
The trigonometric f unctions can be
def ined in other ways besides the geometrical def initions above, using tools
f rom calculus and inf inite series. With these def initions the trigonometric
f unctions can be def ined f or complex numbers. The complex exponential
f unction is particularly usef ul.
See Euler's and De Moivre's f ormulas.
Graphing process of y =
sin(x) using a unit circle.

csc(x), the reciprocal of
sine, using a unit circle.

tan(x) using a unit circle.
Mnemonics [edit]
Main article: Mnemonics in trigonometry
A common use of mnemonics is to remember f acts and relationships in
trigonometry. For example, the sine, cosine, and tangent ratios in a right
triangle can be remembered by representing them and their corresponding
sides as strings of letters. For instance, a mnemonic is SOH-CAH-TOA:
[12]
Sine = Opposite Hypotenuse
Cosine = Adjacent Hypotenuse
Tangent = Opposite Adjacent
One way to remember the letters is to sound them out phonetically (i.e., SOH-
CAH-TOA, which is pronounced 'so-k-toe-uh' /sokto/). Another
method is to expand the letters into a sentence, such as "Some Old Hippy
Caught Another Hippy Trippin' On Acid".
[13]
Calculat ing t rigonomet ric f unct ions [edit]
Main article: Generating trigonometric tables
Trigonometric f unctions were among the earliest uses f or mathematical
tables. Such tables were incorporated into mathematics textbooks and
students were taught to look up values and how to interpolate between the
values listed to get higher accuracy. Slide rules had special scales f or
trigonometric f unctions.
Today scientif ic calculators have buttons f or calculating the main
trigonometric f unctions (sin, cos, tan, and sometimes cis and their inverses).
Most allow a choice of angle measurement methods: degrees, radians, and
sometimes grad. Most computer programming languages provide f unction
libraries that include the trigonometric f unctions. The f loating point unit
hardware incorporated into the microprocessor chips used in most personal
computers has built-in instructions f or calculating trigonometric f unctions.
[14]
Applications of trigonometry [edit]
Main article: Uses of trigonometry
Sextants are used to measure
the angle of the sun or stars with
respect to the horizon. Using
trigonometry and a marine
chronometer, the position of the
ship can be determined from such
measurements.
Main article: Uses of trigonometry
There is an enormous number of uses of
trigonometry and trigonometric f unctions.
For instance, the technique of
triangulation is used in astronomy to
measure the distance to nearby stars, in
geography to measure distances between
landmarks, and in satellite navigation
systems. The sine and cosine f unctions
are f undamental to the theory of periodic
f unctions such as those that describe
sound and light waves.
Fields that use trigonometry or
trigonometric f unctions include astronomy
(especially f or locating apparent positions of celestial objects, in which
spherical trigonometry is essential) and hence navigation (on the oceans, in
aircraf t, and in space), music theory, audio synthesis, acoustics, optics,
electronics, probability theory, statistics, biology, medical imaging (CAT scans
and ultrasound), pharmacy, chemistry, number theory (and hence cryptology),
seismology, meteorology, oceanography, many physical sciences, land
surveying and geodesy, architecture, image compression, phonetics,
economics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering,
computer graphics, cartography, crystallography and game development.
Pythagorean identities [edit]
Identities are those equations that hold true f or any value.
(The f ollowing two can be derived f rom the f irst.)
Angle transformation formulas [edit]
Common formulas [edit]
Certain equations involving
trigonometric f unctions are true f or
all angles and are known as
trigonometric identities. Some
identities equate an expression to a
dif f erent expression involving the
same angles. These are listed in List
Triangle with sides a,b,c and
respectively opposite angles A,B,C
All of the trigonometric functions of
an angle can be constructed
geometrically in terms of a unit circle
centered at O.
of trigonometric identities. Triangle
identities that relate the sides and
angles of a given triangle are listed
below.
In the f ollowing identities, A, B and C
are the angles of a triangle and a, b
and c are the lengths of sides of the triangle opposite the respective angles
(as shown in the diagram).
Law of sines [edit]
The law of sines (also known as the "sine rule") f or an arbitrary triangle
states:
where R is the radius of the circumscribed circle of the triangle:
Another law involving sines can be used to calculate the area of a triangle.
Given two sides a and b and the angle between the sides C, the area of the
triangle is given by half the product of the lengths of two sides and the sine
of the angle between the two sides:
Law of cosines [edit]
The law of cosines (known as the
cosine f ormula, or the "cos rule") is an
extension of the Pythagorean theorem
to arbitrary triangles:
or equivalently:
The law of cosines may be used to
prove Heron's Area Formula, which is another method that may be used to
calculate the area of a triangle. This f ormula states that if a triangle has
sides of lengths a, b, and c, and if the semiperimeter is
then the area of the triangle is:
Law of t angent s [edit]
The law of tangents:
Euler's f ormula [edit]
Euler's f ormula, which states that , produces the
f ollowing analytical identities f or sine, cosine, and tangent in terms of e and
the imaginary unit i:
See also [edit]
Aryabhata's sine table
Generalized trigonometry
Lnrt sphere
List of triangle topics
List of trigonometric identities
Rational trigonometry
Skinny triangle
Small-angle approximation
Trigonometric f unctions
Trigonometry in Galois f ields
Unit circle
Uses of trigonometry
References [edit]
1. ^ "trigonometry" . Online Etymology Dictionary.
2. ^ R. Nagel (ed.), Encyclopedia of Science, 2nd Ed., The Gale Group (2002)
3. ^ Boyer (1991). "Greek Trigonometry and Mensuration". p. 162.
4. ^ Aaboe, Asger. Episodes from the Early History of Astronomy. New York:
Springer, 2001. ISBN 0- 387- 95136- 9
5. ^ Otto Neugebauer (1975). A history of ancient mathematical astronomy. 1 .
Springer- Verlag. pp. 744. ISBN 978- 3- 540- 06995- 9.
6. ^ Boyer p. 215
7. ^ Boyer pp. 237, 274
8. ^ Grattan- Guinness, Ivor (1997). The Rainbow of Mathematics: A History of the
Mathematical Sciences. W.W. Norton. ISBN 0- 393- 32030- 8.
9. ^ Robert E. Krebs (2004). Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions,
and Discoveries of the Middle Ages and the Renaissnce . Greenwood
Publishing Group. pp. 153. ISBN 978- 0- 313- 32433- 8.
10. ^ William Bragg Ewald (2008). From Kant to Hilbert: a source book in the
foundations of mathematics . Oxford University Press US. p. 93. ISBN 0- 19-
850535- 3
11. ^ Kelly Dempski (2002). Focus on Curves and Surfaces . p. 29. ISBN 1-
59200- 007- X
12. ^ Weisstein, Eric W., "SOHCAHTOA" , MathWorld.
13. ^ A sentence more appropriate for high schools is "Some old horse came
a'hopping through our alley". Foster, Jonathan K. (2008). Memory: A Very
Short Introduction. Oxford. p. 128. ISBN 0- 19- 280675- 0.
14. ^ Intel 64 and IA-32 Architectures Software Developers Manual Combined
Volumes: 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B and 3C . Intel. 2013.
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Bibliography [edit]
Boyer, Carl B. (1991). A History of Mathematics (Second ed.). John Wiley &
Sons, Inc. ISBN 0-471-54397-7.
Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001), "Trigonometric f unctions" , Encyclopedia
of Mathematics, Springer, ISBN 978-1-55608-010-4
Christopher M. Linton (2004). From Eudoxus to Einstein: A History of
Mathematical Astronomy . Cambridge University Press.
Weisstein, Eric W. "Trigonometric Addition Formulas". Wolf ram MathWorld.
Weiner.
External links [edit]
Khan Academy: Trigonometry, f ree
online micro lectures
Trigonometry by Alf red Monroe
Kenyon and Louis Ingold, The
Macmillan Company, 1914. In
images, f ull text presented.
Benjamin Banneker's Trigonometry
Puzzle at Convergence
Dave's Short Course in
Trigonometry by David Joyce of
Clark University
Trigonometry, by Michael Corral,
Covers elementary trigonometry, Distributed
under GNU Free Documentation License
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