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TRIGONOMETRY

II. Solution of Triangles

A. Right Triangle

2 2 2
Relation between sides (Pythagorean Theorem): c  a  b

o
Relation between angles: A  B  90
B  90 o  A

a
SinA  Cos B  Cos (900  A) 
c
b
Cos A  Sin B  Sin (90  A) 
0

c
a
tan A  cot B  cot (90  A) 
0

b
1
Area of a Triangle: Area  ab (in square units)
2
Problems:

Solve the following triangles, in which

1. C = 90O. 1. A = 35O, c = 5.

2. a = 23, b = 17.

3. B = 56O, c = 84.
x
4. If tan B  find CosB ?
1x2
Ans.CosB  1  x 2
5. If Cos A  2ab find csc A ?
a 2 b 2
a 2 b 2
Ans.CscA  2 2  

a b

1
 .
x
6. If tan B  find CosB ?
1x2
Ans.CosB  1  x 2
7. If Cos A  2ab find csc A ?
a 2 b 2
a 2 b 2
Ans.CscA  2 2  

a b
1
8. Solve for  in Cos 6
 csc 3  9
Ans.  90
1
9. Solve for  in Cos 4 
 csc (2  6)
Ans.  14 0

10. Find the value A if tan 4 A  cot 6 A

of Ans. A  9 0

11. If Sin 2A = Cos 4B, find the value of A + 2B in degrees.

Ans. A  2B  450

12. If cot 2A = tan 3A, find the value of A in degrees. Ans.

A = 180

13. Find the value of A + 2B in degrees if Sin 3A = Cos 6B. Ans.

A + 2B = 300

14. The cosine of a certain angle is equal to the sine of twice the angle. Determine the angle in degrees. Ans. θ = 300

, what is the value of 4Sin A  Cos A ?

4
15. If tan A 
5 3Cos A  Sin A
4SinA  CosA
Ans.  0.579
3CosA  SinA

5Sin x  3Cos x 5Sin x  3Cos x

16. If 2 cot x  1, what is the value of ? Ans.  1.4
2Sin x  Cos x 2Sin x  Cos x

2
17. If Sin ( x  y)  0.819152 and Sin (x  y)  0.422618, find the value of Sin x Cos y.
Ans. Sin x Cos y = 0.62

18. A flagpole broken over by the wind forms a right triangle with the ground. If the angle which the broken part makes with
the ground is 50O, and the distance from the tip of the pole to the foot is 55 feet, how tall was the pole?

19. If a ladder 40 feet long is placed so as to reach a window 30 feet high, what angle does it make with the level ground,
and how far is the foot from the base of the building?

B. Isosceles Triangles and Polygons

1
Area of a Triangle: Area  bh (in square units)
2
1
Area of Polygon: Area  bhn (in square units)
2

Where:

n = no. of sides

C. Oblique Triangles

Case I: Two angles and a side given

Case II: Two sides and the angle opposite one of them given Case

III: Two sides and the included angle given

Case IV: Three sides given

Oblique Triangles may be solved by:

A. Law of sines

a b c
 
sin A sin B sin C

The sides of a triangle are proportional to the sines of the opposite angles.

3
 B. Law of cosines

a 2  b2  c2  2bc cos A

b2  a 2  c2  2ac cos B

c2  a 2  b2  2ab cos C

The square of any side of a triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides minus twice the product of
these two sides times the cosine of the angle between them.

Area of a Triangle (in square units):

1
Area  ab sin C
2

1
Area  ac sin B
2

1
Area  bc sin A
2
Problems:
Solve the following triangles:

1. A = 30O, B = 80O, a = 15.

2. A = 35O, b = 17, c = 32.

3. B = 100O, C = 30O, b= 75.

4. The sides of a triangle are a = 18.3 m and c = 28.5 m. The angle opposite side c is 115.80. Determine the length of side
b?
Ans. b = 15.3 m

5. The sides of a triangle are b = 51.6 m and c = 38.5 m. The angle opposite side b is 120.40. Find the dimension of
a in meters.
Ans. a = 20 m

6. In triangle ABC, angle A = 450 and angle C = 700. Find the opposite angle A. Ans. a =
30.1 m

7. Determine the third interior angle, aside from the smallest and the biggest of the triangle whose sides are 12 cm, 24 cm
and 16 cm long.
Ans. A = 36.30

8. The perimeter of triangle ABC is 300 m. A = 360, B = 580 and C = 860. Determine the side opposite the biggest
angle.
Ans. c = 123 m

9. At a certain horizontal distance from the foot of a vertical cliff, the angle of elevation of the top of a flagpole 50
feet tall standing on the edge of the cliff is 40O. From the same position, the angle of elevation of the foot of
the pole is 35O. How high is the cliff?

10. At a certain point, the angle of elevation of the top of a flagpole, which stands on level ground, is 35O.
Seventy-five feet nearer the pole, the angle of elevation is 50O. How high is the pole?
4
 Application in Vectors

A. For right triangle

F2  F2  F 2
x y
Fy F Fx  F cos 

Fy  F sin 


F = resultant
θ
Fx and Fy = components of F
O Fx

B. For Oblique Triangles (parallelogram law)

R 2  Q2  T2

T R R = resultant

Q and T = components of F

O Q

Problems:

1. The westward and southward components of the velocity of a ship are 6.7 knots and 12.5 knots
respectively. Find the speed of the ship and the direction in which it is sailing.

2. A force of 150 pounds is acting at an angle of 55O with the horizontal. Find its vertical and horizontal
components.