8-6 Laws of Sines and Cosines

Unit 8 Trigonometric and Circular Functions

Concepts and Objectives

Law of Sines and Cosines (Obj. #31)

Use the law of sines to solve a triangle for a missing
side or angle.

Resolve ambiguous cases of the law of sines.

Find the area of a triangle using sine.

Use the law of cosines to solve a triangle for a missing

side or angle.

Use Heron’s formula to find the area of a triangle.
Beyond Right Angle Trigonometry

When we first started talking about trigonometry, we
started off with right triangles and defined the trig
functions as ratios between the various sides.

It turns out we can extend these ratios to all triangles,

such that if any three of the six side and angle measures
of a triangle are known (including at least one side), then
the other three can be found.
Law of Sines

In any triangle ABC, with sides a, b, and c,

A
a b c b
= = c
sin A sin B sin C
B a C
(i.e. the lengths of the sides in a triangle are
proportional to the sines of the measures of the
angles opposite them).
Law of Sines

To solve for an angle, we can also write this as

A
sin A sin B sin C b
= = c
a b c
B a C

When using the law of sines, a good strategy is to select

an equation so that the unknown variable is in the
numerator and all other variables are known.
Law of Sines

Example: Solve triangle BUG if B = 32.0°, U = 81.8°, and
b = 42.9 cm.
b u G
=
sin B sinU
42.9 u u 42.9 cm
=
sin32.0° sin81.8°
42.9sin81.8° 32.0° 81.8°
u=
sin32.0° B g U
≈ 80.1 cm
Law of Sines

Example: Solve triangle BUG if B = 32.0°, U = 81.8°, and
b = 42.9 cm.
G
To find G, recall that the angles
of a triangle add up to 180°.
Therefore, m∠G = 66.2°. 80.1 cm 42.9 cm

Now that we have G, we can

find g: 32.0° 81.8°
B g U
42.9 g
=
sin32.0° sin66.2°
g ≈ 74.1 cm
Law of Sines

If we are given the lengths of two sides and the angle
opposite one of them, then zero, one, or two such
triangles may exist. This situation is called the
ambiguous case of the law of sines.
Law of Sines

Example: Solve triangle PIE if I = 55°, i = 8.94 m, and
p = 25.1 m.
sin P sin I
=
p i
sin P sin55°
=
25.1 8.94
25.1sin55°
sin P =
8.94
sin P ≈ 2.29986
Since sin P cannot be greater than 1, there can be no
such angle.
Law of Sines

Applying the law of sines:

For any angle θ of a triangle, 0 < sin θ ≤ 1. (If sin θ = 1,
then θ = 90° and the triangle is a right triangle.)

sin θ = sin(180° – θ) (Supplementary angles have the
same sine value.)

The smallest angle is opposite the shortest side, the
largest angle is opposite the longest side, and the
middle-valued angle is opposite the intermediate
side.
Law of Sines

Example: Solve triangle ABC if A = 55.3°, a = 22.8 ft, and
b = 24.9 ft.

Use the law of sines to find angle B:

sin55.3° sin sinB
B
=
22.8 24.9
24.9sin55.3°
sin B =
22.8
sin B ≈ .8978678
Law of Sines

Example: Solve triangle ABC if A = 55.3°, a = 22.8 ft, and
b = 24.9 ft.
sin B ≈ .8978678
There are two angles B between 0° and 180° that satisfy
this condition.
sin–1 (.8978678) ≈ 63.9°
Supplementary angles have the same since value, so
another possible value of B is
180° – 63.9° = 116.1°
Since A + B < 180°, both values will work.
Law of Cosines

In any triangle ABC, with sides a, b, and c,

A
a2 b2 c2
= + – 2bc cos A
b2 = a2 + c2 – 2ac cos B c b
c2 = a2 + b2 – 2ab cos C
B a C
Law of Cosines

Example: Solve triangle ABC if A = 42.3°, b = 12.9 m, and
c = 15.4 m.
C

12.9 m a

42.3°
2 2 2 A 15.4 m B
a = b + c − 2bc cos A
a2 = 12.92 + 15.42 − 2(12.9)(15.4 ) cos42.3°
a2 ≈ 109.7
a ≈ 10.47 m
Area Formulas

If a triangle has sides of lengths a, b, and c, the area is
given by the following formula:
1 1 1
A = bc sin A or A = ab sin C or A = ac sin B
2 2 2

1

The semiperimeter, s, of a triangle is s = (a + b + c )
2
and the area of a triangle (Heron’s formula) is thus:
A = s ( s − a )( s − b )( s − c )
Homework

College Algebra (brown book)

Page 742: 10-60 (×5s), 75, 80, 85

Turn in: 20, 40, 60, 80

Page 755: 15-60 (×5s), 65, 70, 75

Turn in: 20, 30, 50, 70

Classwork: Algebra & Trigonometry (green book)

Page 887: 1, 3, 5

Page 879: 1, 3, 5

Page 883: 1, 3, 5