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TRIGONOMETRY
Objectives
1. Right angled triangles – Pythagorean theorem, trigonometric
ratios
2. Non – right angled triangles – Sine rule, cosine rule
3. Trigonometric waveforms; sine, cosine and tangent
4. General representation of a sine, cosine and tangent functions
in terms of amplitude, frequency and periodic time
5. Leading and lagging angles
6. Values of trig functions
7. Trigonometric identities
a) Basic identities
b) Compound angle formulas
c) Double angle formulas
d) Sum to products
e) Products to sums
f) Half angle formulas
8. Trigonometric equations
9. Applications of trigonometry
Introduction
Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that deals with the relationship
between the sides and angles of a triangle
Triangles
A triangle is a plane figure bounded by three straight lines. The sides may be
of equal or unequal lengths depending on the type of triangle. The sum of
angles in a triangle is 180 °.
Types of triangles
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1. Equilateral triangle – All sides equal and therefore all angles are equal (
180°
¿=60 °
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2. Isosceles triangle – Two sides equal and one different. Two angles are
equal
3. Right angled triangle – One angle equal to 90 ° and the other 2 angles
are acute (less than 90 ° )
4. Obtuse angled triangle – one of the angles is obtuse( between 90 and
180 degrees) and the other 2 angles are acute
5. Acute angled triangles – all angles are acute; i.e less than 90 degrees.
Right angled triangles
For a right angled triangle ABC, shown below:
The relationship between the sides, a, b and c only is given by the
Pythagorean Theorem, stated as follows:
2 2 2
a =b +c
a=√ b2 +c 2
The relationship between the acute angles and the sides is given by
trigonometric ratios, usually abbreviated as S OH :C AH :T OA . With
reference to the angle θ in the following triangle, the trig ratios can be
found as follows:
opposite side b
sinθ= =
hypotenuse a
adjacent side c
cosθ= =
hypotenuse a
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opposite side b
tanθ= =
Adjacent side c
Review problem
1. Solve the following triangle for all the missing sides and angles:
The sine and cosine rules
For non-right angled triangles, the relationship between sides and angles is
given by:
The sine rule
The cosine rule
The sine rule
For a scalene triangle ABC, shown below:
The relationship between angles A, B and C and sides a, b and c is given by
the sine rule stated as follows:
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a b c
= =
sinA sinB sinC
Or:
sinA sinB sinC
= =
a b c
The sine rule is used to find a side or angle of a triangle if:
Two sides and an angle are known
Two angles and a side are known
Review questions
For triangle QPR shown below:
Find:
1. Length of QR
2. Angle PQR
3. Angle PRQ
Cosine rule
For a scalene triangle, ABC shown below;
The cosine rules are stated as follows:
2 2 2
a =b +c −2 bc cosA
2 2 2
b =a +c −2 ac cosB
2 2 2
c =a + b −2 ab cosC
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When to use cosine rule:
When 3 sides only are known, angle can be found
When two sides and an angle are known, corresponding side can be
found.
Review problem
Given triangle ABC, find all the missing angles
Solutions for review exercises
Review exercise 1
1. Length of AB ¿ 3.35 cm
2. Length of AC¿ 5.218 cm
3. Angle BAC¿ 50 °
Review exercise 2
1. Length of QR=9.34 cm
2. Angle PQR¿ 23.7 °
3. Angle PQR¿ 86.3 °
Review exercise 3
1. Angle BAC¿ 61.2 °
2. Angle ABC¿ 72.97 °
3. Angle ACB¿ 45.83 °
Review exercise 4
Using the angles in exercise 3;
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A rea= absinC
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Area= ×11×12 ×sin 45.83° =47.3 square units
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