Trigonometry

May 27, 201

Instant Trig

Trigonometry is math, so many people find it scary

Its usually taught in a one-semester high-school course
However, 95% of all the trig youll ever need to know
can be covered in 15 minutes

And thats what were going to do now

Angles add to 180

The angles of a triangle always add up to 180

20
44

68
44
68
+ 68
180

68

30

120
20
30
+ 130
180

Right triangles

We only care about right triangles

A right triangle is one in which one of the angles is 90
Heres a right triangle:
Herestheangle
wearelookingat
h
Heresthe
ypo
ten
rightangle
use
opposite

adjacent

We call the longest side the hypotenuse

We pick one of the other angles--not the right angle
We name the other two sides relative to that angle

The Pythagorean Theorem

If you square the length of the

two shorter sides and add
them, you get the square of the
length of the hypotenuse

adj2 + opp2 = hyp2

32 + 42 = 52, or 9 + 16 = 25

hyp = sqrt(adj2 + opp2)

5 = sqrt(9 + 16)

5-12-13

There are few triangles with

integer sides that satisfy the
Pythagorean formula
3-4-5 and its
multiples (6-8-10, etc.)
are the best known
5-12-13 and its multiples
form another set
25 + 144 = 169

opp

hyp
adj

Since a triangle has three

sides, there are six ways to
divide the lengths of the sides
Each of these six ratios has a
name (and an abbreviation)
Three ratios are most used:

sine = sin = opp / hyp

cosine = cos = adj / hyp
tangent = tan = opp / adj

The other three ratios are

redundant with these and can
be ignored

opposite

opposite

Ratios
hyp
ote
nus
e

adjacent
The ratios depend on the
shape of the triangle (the
angles) but not on the size
hyp
ote
nus
e

adjacent

Using the ratios

With these functions, if you know an angle (in addition to the
right angle) and the length of a side, you can compute all other
angles and lengths of sides
hyp
ote
nus
e
opposite

adjacent

If you know the angle marked in red (call it A) and you know
the length of the adjacent side, then

tan A = opp / adj, so length of opposite side is given by

opp = adj * tan A
cos A = adj / hyp, so length of hypotenuse is given by
hyp = adj / cos A

Java methods in java.lang.Math

public static double sin(double a)

public static double cos(double a)

public static double sin(double a)

If a is zero, the result is zero

If a is zero, the result is zero

However: The angle a must be measured in radians

Fortunately, Java has these additional methods:
public static double toRadians(double degrees)
public static double toDegrees(double radians)

The hard part

If you understood this lecture, youre in great shape for

doing all kinds of things with basic graphics
Heres the part Ive always found the hardest:

sin = opp / hyp

cos = adj / hyp
tan = opp / adj

e
s
u
en
t
o
hyp

adjacent

opposite

Memorizing the names of the ratios

Mnemonics from wikiquote

The formulas for right-triangle trigonometric functions

are:

Sine = Opposite / Hypotenuse

Cosine = Adjacent / Hypotenuse
Tangent = Opposite / Adjacent

Mnemonics for those formulas are:

Some Old Horse Caught Another Horse Taking Oats Away

Saints On High Can Always Have Tea Or Alcohol

Drawing a Turtle
You want to move h units in the
angle direction, to (x1, y1):
hyp
You are at: (x, y)

opp
adj

So you make a right triangle...

And you label it...
And you compute:
x1 = x + adj = x + hyp * (adj/hyp) = x + hyp * cos
y1 = y - opp = y - hyp * (opp/hyp) = y - hyp * sin
This is the first point in your Turtle triangle
Find the other points similarly...

The End