TRIGNOMETRY &

SIMILAR TRIANGLES

Trigonometry
The Tangent Ratio
On a right-angle triangle, the 3 sides each have a name, based on
"other side" of
their position.
the triangle from
opposite
the given angle

"next to" the

30
given angle
adjacent
You will always work from one of the small angles.
The side names describe how far the sides are from this angle.

60
adjacent
opposite
(If you start working with the second small angle, you have to
rename your sides.)

Trigonometry
The Tangent Ratio
In the same way, if we know what the ratio of the two sides are
for a right triangle of any angle measure, and we know one side,
then we can use a proportion to solve for the other side.
25

63
opp
ratio of adj = 0.466

h
63
63(0.466 ) = h

opposite

0.466 =

adjacent

29.4 = h

Your calculator can give you a value for the ratio of these two sides
on your triangle, for ANY known angle.
tan

angle measure

0.4663076 tan 25 = 0.466

Trigonometry
The Tangent Ratio
So your process for each of these problems becomes...
1 Look at your diagram or read the desciption.
62
Determine which side is the opposite side,
12
which side is the adjacent side.
2 Write down the tan ratio. tan = opp

adj

Fill in as much of the tan ratio as you can. tan 62 =

x
12

Use the calculator to figure out the ratio value

for the given angle.
1.8807265
tan 6
2
=
angle measure

tan 62 = 1.881

Fill this value in, and solve for x.

x
12
12(1.881) = x
1.881 =

22.6 = x

Trigonometry
The Sine and Cosine Ratios

Trigonometry
The Sine and Cosine Ratios
There are three trig ratios, Sine, Cosine and Tangent.

sin =

opp
hyp

cos =

adj
tan=
hyp

opp
adj

Which ratio you use depends on which two sides of your triangle
you are working with (you will be given one, and asked to find
another).
x

40

30

Name the two sides, and decide which ratio you should use to find x.

Trigonometry
The Sine and Cosine Ratios
The Process:
1 Name the 2 sides
(given side &
unknown side)
2 Pick the trig ratio.

x
36.9
40

40 = adjacent
x = opposite

30
36.9
x

50 = hypotenuse
x = adjacent

36.9

30 = opposite
x = hypotenuse

opp
adj sin 36.9 = opp
tan 36.9 =
cos36.9 =
hyp
adj
hyp
Substitute the sides
3
30
into the ratio.
x
x
sin
36.9
=
cos36.9 =
tan 36.9 =
x
50
Use
the
calculator
to
40
4
30
find the ratio value
x
x
0.600
=
0.800
=
0.751 =
x
for the given angle.
50
40
30
5 Fill this ratio value in,40(0.751) = x 50(0.800) = x
x=
0.600
and solve for x.
40
=
x
30 = x
x = 50

Trigonometry
Inverse Trig
?

Trigonometry
Inverse Trig
So far we have been solving unknown side lengths.
Trig can also be used to solve for unknown angle measures.
When we knew the angle measure
your calculator could tell you the
trig ratio for two side lengths on
opp
your triangle.
tan =

38
40
calculator
step

adj
x
x tan 38 =
40
x
0.781=
40
x = (40) .0.781
x = 31.24

Trigonometry
Inverse Trig
.
If you know the lengths of two sides, then you can build the
ratio and work backwards to find an unknown angle.
opp
adj
31.2
31.2
tan =
40
tan = 0.78
tan =

40

= tan 1 (0.78)
= 38.00

Trigonometry
Inverse Trig

The Process:
opp
16
adj
1 Name the 2 known
sides
2 Pick the trig ratio.
Substitute the sides
3
into the ratio and
calculate the decimal value.
4

opp
adj
11
tan =
16
tan = 0.688
tan =

11

= tan 1 0.688
= 34.50

Trig: "the TAN of the ANGLE is the RATIO"

Inverse Trig: "the INVERSE TAN of the RATIO is the ANGLE"
Write the inverse trig statement using the above rule.

5 Use your calculator to solve for the angle.

This Process works for all three Trig Ratios: Sin, Cos, and Tan

Trigonometry
Word Problems
h

Trigonometry
Word Problems
A couple of terms to know for word problems...
The angle of elevation is the
angle at which a viewer looks
UP from the horizontal to
sight a object.

The angle of depression is the

angle at which a viewer looks
DOWN from the horizontal to
sight a object.

Trigonometry
The Tangent Ratio
H
F
D
B

A
C

Trigonometry
The Tangent Ratio

H
F
D
B
A
C

We can see that angle A is common in ABC , ADE , AFG

and AHI

tan =

= =

tan =

= =

The above relationship concludes that ABC , ADE , AFG

and AHI are similar triangles

Trigonometry
Similar Triangles

Similar triangles have the same shape, but not necessarily the
same size. Since a triangle's shape is determined by its angles,
similar triangles have the same angle measures.

B
A
C

ABC ~ DEF

"is similar to"

list corresponding vertices in same order

Because all the angles in any triangle add to 180, if two triangles
have a pair of angles that are the same, then all three of their
angles are the same, and the triangles are SIMILAR

In Similar Triangles,
- corresponding angles are equal, and
- the ratios of corresponding sides are equal.
This allows us to set up proportions that will solve for
unknown side lengths.
E
B
d
b
a
ABC ~ DEF
e
A
D
c
C
f

= =

= =

= =
= =

SCALE FACTOR
Scale factor = New Measurement / Old Measurement
Old Measurement is sometimes called as Base value or
a reference
A
B
Here AB is a line measuring 10m.
We take it as the reference or the Base Value = 10m
C
Now there is a new line CD which is 5 times the length of
AB. How do we find the length of CD ?

SCALE FACTOR
Scale factor = 5 times = 5
So CD = 5 * 10 = 50m

AB is
zoomed
out 5times
to get CD

SCALE FACTOR
If Given CD = 50m and the Scale factor is [ 0.2 times = 1/5 ]
We need to find AB ??
So AB = 0.2 * 50 = 10m
C

D
CD is zoomed
in 5times to
get AB

SCALE FACTOR
Since we cant practically show large distances on a piece of paper ,
we reduce the original length of a measurement by a SCALE
FACTOR and represent on a paper.
For example , the actual length of the wall in your house maybe
10m , but it is not practical to show and draw the same on a A4 size
page which hardly measures 60cm or so.
So what we do is we reduce the actual measurement of 10m to a
lower value by reducing/zooming in a factor called as SCALE
FACTOR

SCALE FACTOR

10cm

For example , we draw the side of a lounge with a ruler and measure the
same as 10cm.
Given Scale factor is 1:100 which means the actual length of the lounge in
your house is 100* 10cm = 1000cm = 10m

Typical Problems of Similar

Triangles