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Module: Construction Mathematics 2 Lecture 3

Simultaneous Equations
Refer to Mathematics Counts 4 book page 22. (attached copies).


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Trigonometry
Introduction to Trigonometry
Trigonometry (from Greek trigonon "triangle" + metron "measure")
Want to Learn Trigonometry? Here are the basics!
Follow the links for more, or go to Trigonometry Index


Trigonometry ... is all about triangles.


A triangle has three sides and three angles

The three angles always add to 180
Equilateral, Isosceles and Scalene
There are three special names given to triangles that tell how many sides (or angles) are equal.

There can be 3, 2 or no equal sides/angles:

Equilateral Triangle
Three equal sides
Three equal angles, always 60

Isosceles Triangle
Two equal sides
Two equal angles

Scalene Triangle
No equal sides
No equal angles
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Right Angled Triangle
A right-angled triangle (the right angle is
shown by the little box in the corner) has
names for each side:
Adjacent is adjacent to the angle "",
Opposite is opposite the angle, and
the longest side is the Hypotenuse.


Perimeter
The perimeter is the distance around the edge of the triangle: just add up the three sides:

Area

The area is half of the base times height.
"b" is the distance along the base
"h" is the height (measured at right angles to the
base)

Area = b h
The formula works for all triangles.
Note: another way of writing the formula is bh/2

Example: What is the area of this triangle?

(Note: 12 is the height, not the length of the left-hand side)

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Height = h = 12
Base = b = 20
Area = b h = 20 12 = 120
The base can be any side, Just be sure the "height" is measured at right angles to the "base":
(Note: You can also calculate the area from the lengths of all three sides using Heron's Formula.)
Why is the Area "Half of bh"?
Imagine you "doubled" the triangle (flip it around one of the upper edges) to make a square-like shape
(it would be a "parallelogram" actually), THEN the whole area would be bh (that would be for both
triangles, so just one is bh), like this:

By slicing the new triangle and moving the sliced part to the other side
you get a simple rectangle, whose area is bh.




Area of Triangles Without Right Angles
If You Know Base and Height
It is easy to find the area of a right-angled triangle, or any triangle
where we are given the base and the height.
It is simply half of b times h
Area = bh
(The Triangles page tells you more about this).

Example: What is the area of this triangle?
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Height = h = 12
Base = b = 20
Area = bh = 20 12 = 120
If You Know Three Sides

There's also a formula to find the area of any triangle if we
know the lengths of all three of its sides.
This can be found on the Heron's Formula page.
If You Know Two Sides and the Included Angle

If we know two sides and the included angle (SAS), there is
another formula (in fact three equivalent formulas) we can use.
Depending on which sides and angles we know, the formula can be written in three ways:
Either Area = ab sin C
Or Area = bc sin A
Or Area = ac sin B
They are really the same formula, just with the sides and angle changed.
Example: Find the area of this triangle:

First of all we must decide what we know.
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We know angle C = 25, and sides a = 7 and b = 10.
So let's get going:
Start with: Area = ab sin C

Put in the values we know: Area = 7 10 sin(25)

Do some calculator work: Area = 35 0.4226...
Area = 14.8 to one decimal place
How to Remember
Just think "abc": Area = a b sin C
How Does it Work?
Well, we know that we can find an area if we know a base and height:
Area = base height

In this triangle:
the base is: c
the height is: b sin A
Putting that together gets us:
Area = (c) (b sin A)
Which is (more simply):
Area = bc sin A
By changing the labels on the triangle we can also get:
Area = ab sin C
Area = ca sin B
One more example:
Example: Find How Much Land
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Farmer Jones owns a triangular piece of land.
The length of the fence AB is 150 m. The length of the
fence BC is 231 m.
The angle between fence AB and fence BC is 123.
How much land does Farmer Jones own?

First of all we must decide which lengths and angles we know:
AB = c = 150 m,
BC = a = 231 m,
and angle B = 123
So we use:
Area = ca sinB
Start with: Area = ca sinB

Put in the values we know: Area = 150 231 sin(123) m
2


Do some calculator work: Area = 17,325 0.838... m
2

Area = 14,530 m
2


Farmer Jones has 14,530 m
2
of land


Heron's Formula

Area of a Triangle from Sides
You can calculate the area of a triangle if you know the lengths of all three
sides, using a formula that has been know for nearly 2000 years.
It is called "Heron's Formula" after Hero of Alexandria (see below)
Just use this two step process:

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Step 1:
Calculate "s" (half of the triangles
perimeter) using:

Step 2: Then calculate the Area using:


Example: What is the area of a triangle where every side is 5 long?
Step 1: s = (5+5+5)/2 = 7.5
Step 2: A = (7.5 2.5 2.5 2.5) = (117.1875) = 10.825...


Pythagoras Theorem
For the next trigonometric identities we start with Pythagoras' Theorem:

The Pythagorean Theorem states that, in a right triangle,the square of a
(a) plus the square of b (b) is equal to the square of c (c):
a
2
+ b
2
= c
2



Congruent Triangles
Triangles are congruent when they have exactly the same three sides and exactly the same three
angles.
What is "Congruent" ... ?
It means that one shape can become another using Turns, Flips and/or Slides:
Rotation

Turn!
Reflection

Flip!
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Translation

Slide!

Congruent Triangles
If two triangles are congruent they will have exactly the same three sides and exactly the same three
angles.
The equal sides and angles may not be in the same position (if there is a turn or a flip), but they will be
there.
Same Sides
If the sides are the same then the triangles are congruent.
For example:

is congruent to:

and

because they all have exactly the same sides.
But:

is NOT congruent to:

because the two triangles do not have exactly the same sides.

Same Angles
Does this also work with angles? Not always!
Two triangles with the same angles might be congruent:
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is congruent to:

only because they are the same size
But they might NOT be congruent because of different sizes:

is NOT congruent to:

because, even though all angles match, one is larger than the other.
So just having the same angles is no guarantee they are congruent.

Other Combinations
There are other combinations of sides and angles that can work ...

Marking
If two triangles are congruent, we often mark corresponding sides and angles like this:

is congruent to:

The sides marked with one line are equal in length. Similarly for the sides marked with two lines and
three lines.
The angles marked with one arc are equal in size. Similarly for the angles marked with two arcs and
three arcs.


Similar Triangles
Two triangles are Similar if the only difference is size (and possibly the need to turn or flip one around).
These triangles are all similar:
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(Equal angles have been marked with the same number of arcs)
Some of them have different sizes and some of them have been turned or flipped.
Similar triangles have:
all their angles equal
corresponding sides have the same ratio

Corresponding Sides
In similar triangles, the sides facing the equal angles are always in the same ratio.
For example:

Triangles R and S are similar. The equal angles are marked with the same numbers of arcs.
What are the corresponding lengths?
The lengths 7 and a are corresponding (they face the angle marked with one arc)
The lengths 8 and 6.4 are corresponding (they face the angle marked with two arcs)
The lengths 6 and b are corresponding (they face the angle marked with three arcs)
Calculating the Lengths of Corresponding Sides
It may be possible to calculate lengths we don't know yet. We need to:
Step 1: Find the ratio of corresponding sides in pairs of similar triangles.
Step 2: Use that ratio to find the unknown lengths.
Example: Find lengths a and b of Triangle S above.
Step 1: Find the ratio
We know all the sides in Triangle R, and
We know the side 6.4 in Triangle S
The 6.4 faces the angle marked with two arcs as does the side of length 8 in triangle R.
So we can match 6.4 with 8, and so the ratio of sides in triangle S to triangle R is:
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6.4 to 8
Now we know that the lengths of sides in triangle S are all 6.4/8 times the lengths of sides in triangle R.
Step 2: Use the ratio
a faces the angle with one arc as does the side of length 7 in triangle R.
a = (6.4/8) 7 = 5.6

b faces the angle with three arcs as does the side of length 6 in triangle R.
b = (6.4/8) 6 = 4.8

Done!



Angles
Angles (such as the angle "" above) can be in Degrees or Radians. Here are some examples:
Angle Degrees Radians
Right Angle
90 /2
__ Straight Angle 180
Full Rotation
360 2

"Sine, Cosine and Tangent"
The three most common functions in trigonometry are Sine, Cosine and Tangent. You will use them a
lot!
They are simply one side of a triangle divided by another.
For any angle "":

Sine Function: sin() = Opposite / Hypotenuse
Cosine Function: cos() = Adjacent / Hypotenuse
Tangent Function: tan() = Opposite / Adjacent


How to remember? Think "Sohcahtoa"! It works like this:
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Soh... Sine = Opposite / Hypotenuse
...cah... Cosine = Adjacent / Hypotenuse
...toa Tangent = Opposite / Adjacent

Other Functions (Cotangent, Secant, Cosecant)
Similar to Sine, Cosine and Tangent, there are three other trigonometric functions which are made by
dividing one side by another:

Cosecant Function: csc() = Hypotenuse / Opposite
Secant Function: sec() = Hypotenuse / Adjacent
Cotangent Function: cot() = Adjacent / Opposite


Trigonometric and Triangle Identities

The Trigonometric Identities are equations that are
true for all right-angled triangles.

The Triangle Identities are equations that are true
for all triangles (they don't have to have a right
angle).

Example: What is the sine of 35?

Using this triangle (lengths are only to one decimal place):
sin(35) = Opposite / Hypotenuse = 2.8/4.9 = 0.57...
Sine, Cosine and Tangent are often abbreivated to sin, cos and tan.

Example: what are the sine, cosine and tangent of 30 ?
The classic 30 triangle has a hypotenuse of length 2, an opposite side of length 1 and an adjacent side
of (3):
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Now we know the lengths, we can calculate the functions:
Sine sin(30) = 1 / 2 = 0.5
Cosine cos(30) = 1.732 / 2 = 0.866...
Tangent tan(30) = 1 / 1.732 = 0.577...
(get your calculator out and check them!)

Example: what are the sine, cosine and tangent of 45 ?
The classic 45 triangle has two sides of 1 and a hypotenuse of (2):

Sine sin(45) = 1 / 1.414 = 0.707...
Cosine cos(45) = 1 / 1.414 = 0.707...
Tangent tan(45) = 1 / 1 = 1




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Unit Circle

The "Unit Circle" is a circle with a radius of 1.
Being so simple, it is a great way to learn and talk
about lengths and angles.
The center is put on a graph where the x axis and y
axis cross, so we get this neat arrangement here.
Sine, Cosine and Tangent
Because the radius is 1, you can directly
measure sine, cosine and tangent.
What happens when the angle, , is 0?
cos 0 = 1, sin 0 = 0 and tan 0 = 0
What happens when is 90?
cos 90 = 0, sin 90 = 1 and tan 90 is
undefined


Pythagoras
Pythagoras' Theorem says that for a right angled triangle, the
square of the long side equals the sum of the squares of the
other two sides:
x
2
+ y
2
= 1
2

But 1
2
is just 1, so:
x
2
+ y
2
= 1
(the equation of the unit circle)
Also, since x=cos and y=sin, we get:
(cos())
2
+ (sin())
2
= 1
(a useful "identity")


Important Angles: 30, 45 and 60
You should try to remember sin, cos and tan for the angles 30, 45 and 60.
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Yes, yes, it is a pain to have to remember things, but it will make life easier when you know them, not
just in exams, but other times when you need to do quick estimates, etc.
These are the values you should remember!
Angle Sin Cos Tan=Sin/Cos
30

1
/3 =
3
/3
45

1
60

3

How To Remember?

To help you remember, think "1,2,3" :
sin(30) =
1
=
1
(because 1 = 1)
2 2
sin(45) =
2
2
sin(60) =
3
2

And cos goes "3,2,1"
cos(30) =
3
2
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cos(45) =
2
2
cos(60) =
1
=
1
(because 1 = 1)
2 2
Just 3 Numbers
In fact, knowing 3 numbers is enough:
1
,
2
and
3
2 2 2
Because they work for cos as well as sin:



What about tan?
Well, tan = sin/cos so you can calculate it like this:
an(30) =
sin(30)
=
1/2
=
1

cos(30) 3/2 3


But writing 1/3 may cost you marks
(see Rational Denominators), so instead use 3/3
tan(45) =
sin(45)
=
2/2
= 1

cos(45) 2/2


tan(60) =
sin(60)
=
3/2
= 3

cos(60) 1/2




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The Whole Circle

For the whole circle we need values in every quadrant (with the correct plus or minus sign as
per Cartesian Coordinates):

Note that cos is first and sin is second, so it goes (cos, sin)



Example: What is cos(330) ?


Make a sketch like this, and you will see it is the "long" value:
3
2

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And this is the same Unit Circle in radians.


Example: What is sin(7/6) ?


Think "7/6 = + /6", then make a sketch.
You can then see it is negative and is the "short" value:


Footnote: where do the values come from?
We can use the equation x
2
+ y
2
= 1 to find the lengths of x and y (which are equal
to cos and sin when the radius is 1):
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45 Degrees
For 45 degrees, x and y are equal, so y=x:
x
2
+ x
2
= 1
2x
2
= 1
x
2
=
x = y = ()

60 Degrees
Take an equilateral triangle (all sides are equal and all angles
are 60) and split it down the middle.
The "x" side is now ,
And the "y" side will be:
()
2
+ y
2
= 1
+ y
2
= 1
y
2
= 1- =
y = ()
30 Degrees
30 is just 60 with x and y swapped, so x = () and y =
() is also this:

And () is also this:

And here is the result (same as before):
Angle Sin Cos Tan=Sin/Cos
30

1
/3 =
3
/3
45

1
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60

3



Repeating Pattern
Because the angle is rotating around and around the circle the Sine, Cosine and Tangent
functions repeat once every full rotation.
When you need to calculate the function for an angle larger than a full rotation of 2 (360) just
subtract as many full rotations as you need to bring it back below 2 (360):

Example: what is the cosine of 370?
370 is greater than 360 so let us subtract 360
370 - 360 = 10
cos(370) = cos(10) = 0.985 (to 3 decimal places)
Likewise if the angle is less than zero, just add full rotations.

Example: what is the sine of -3 radians?
-3 is less than 0 so let us add 2 radians
-3 + 2 = -3 + 6.283 = 3.283 radians
sin(-3) = sin(3.283) = -0.141 (to 3 decimal places)

Graphs of Sine, Cosine and Tangent
Here are some nice graphs to look at ...
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Plot of Sine
The Sine Function has this
beautiful up-down curve (which
repeats every 2 radians, or
360).
It starts at 0, heads up to 1 by /2
radians (90) and then heads
down to -1.



Plot of Cosine
Cosine is just like Sine, but it
starts at 1 and heads down
until radians (180) and then
heads up again.


Plot of Sine and Cosine
In fact Sine and Cosine are
like good friends: they follow
each other, exactly "/2" radians,
or 90, apart.


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Plot of the Tangent Function
The Tangent function has a
completely different shape ... it
goes between negative and
positiveInfinity, crossing through 0
(every radians, or 180), as
shown on this plot.
At /2 radians, or 90 (and -/2,
3/2, etc) the function is
officially undefined, because it
could be positive
Infinity or negative Infinity.


Solving Triangles
A big part of Trigonometry is Solving Triangles. By "solving" I mean finding missing sides and angles.
By "solving" I mean finding missing sides and angles.

If you know any 3 of the sides or angles ...
... you can find the other 3

(Except for 3 angles, because you need at
least
one side to find how big the triangle is.)
Six Different Types
If you need to solve a triangle right now, then choose one of the six options below:
Which Sides or Angles do you know already? (Click on the image, or link)



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AAA AAS ASA SAS SSA SSS
Three Angles
Two Angles and
a
Side notbetween
Two Angles
and
a Side
between
Two Sides and
an Angle
between
Two Sides and
an
Angle notbetween
Three Sides


Solving Triangles by Reflection

A 5ft ladder leans against a wall as shown.
What is the angle between the ladder and the wall?
This is surprisingly easy to solve by using Reflection:
Here is the triangle with its reflection
Together they make an equilateral triangle (all sides equal).


The angles in an
equilateral triangle
are all 60


So the angle between the ladder and the wall is half of 60
= 30
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Finding Length
We can use the same idea to find an unknown length.

Alex has a laser that measures distance.
By standing some distance from the tree Alex
measures42m to the top of the tree at an angle
of 30.
What is the height of the tree?
Here is the triangle and its reflection:

Once again the triangle and its reflection make an equilateral
triangle.
So, we know the height of the tree must be half of 42m
= 21m

The Law of Sines
The Law of Sines (or Sine Rule) is very useful for solving triangles:

It works for any triangle:

a, b and c are sides.
A, B and C are angles.
(Side a faces angle A,
side b faces angle B and
side c faces angle C).
So if you divide side a by the sine of angle A it is equal to side b divided by the sine of angle B,
and also equal to side c divided by the sine of angle C
Sure ... ?
Well, let's do the calculations for a triangle I prepared earlier:
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a/sin A = 8 / sin (62.2) = 8 / 0.885... = 9.04...
b/sin B = 5 / sin (33.5) = 5 / 0.552... = 9.06...
c/sin C = 9 / sin (84.3) = 9 / 0.995... = 9.05...
The answers are almost the same!
(They would be exactly the same if I used perfect accuracy).
So now you can see that:
a/sin A = b/sin B = c/sin C
How Do I Use It?
Let us see an example:
Example: Calculate side "c"


Law of Sines: a/sin A = b/sin B = c/sin C

Put in the values we know: a/sin A = 7/sin(35) = c/sin(105)

Ignore a/sin A (not useful to us): 7/sin(35) = c/sin(105)

Now we use our algebra skills to rearrange and solve:

Swap sides: c/sin(105) = 7/sin(35)

Multiply both sides by sin(105): c = ( 7 / sin(35) ) sin(105)

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Calculate: c = ( 7 / 0.574... ) 0.966...
Calculate: c = 11.8 (to 1 decimal place)
Finding an Unknown Angle
In the previous example we found an unknown side ...
... but we can also use the Law of Sines to find an unknown angle.
In this case it is best to turn the fractions upside down (sin A/a instead of a/sin A, etc):

Example: Calculate angle B


Start with: sin A / a = sin B / b = sin C / c

Put in the values we know: sin A / a = sin B / 4.7 = sin(63) / 5.5

Ignore "sin A / a": sin B / 4.7 = sin(63) / 5.5

Multiply both sides by 4.7: sin B = (sin63/5.5) 4.7
Calculate: sin B = 0.7614...

Inverse Sine: B = sin
-1
(0.7614...)
B = 49.6


Sometimes There Are Two Answers !
There is one very tricky thing you have to look out for:
Two possible answers.
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Let us say you know angle A, and sides a and b.
You could swing side a to left or right and come up with two
possible results (a small triangle and a much wider triangle)
Both answers are right!

This only happens in the "Two Sides and an Angle not between" case, and even then not always, but
you have to watch out for it.
Just think "could I swing that side the other way to also make a correct answer?"

Example: Calculate angle R


The first thing to notice is that this triangle has different labels: PQR instead of ABC. But that's not a
problem. We just use P,Q and R instead of A, B and C in The Law of Sines.
Start with: sin R / r = sin Q / q

Put in the values we know: sin R / 41 = sin(39)/28

Multiply both sides by 41: sin R = (sin39/28) 41
Calculate: sin R = 0.9215...

Inverse Sine: R = sin
-1
(0.9215...)
R = 67.1

But wait! There's another angle that also has a sine equal to 0.9215...
Your calculator won't tell you this but sin(112.9) is also equal to 0.9215... (try it!)
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So ... how do you discover the vale 112.9?
Easy ... take 67.1 away from 180, like this:
180 - 67.1 = 112.9
So there are two possible answers for R: 67.1 and 112.9:

Both are possible! Each one has the 39 angle, and sides of 41 and 28.
So, always check to see whether the alternative answer makes sense.
... sometimes it will (like above) and there will be two solutions
... sometimes it won't (see below) and there is one solution

We looked at this triangle before.
As you can see, you can try swinging the "5.5" line around, but no
other solution makes sense.
So this has only one solution.

The Law of Cosines
The Law of Cosines (also called the Cosine Rule) is very useful for solving triangles:

It works for any triangle:

a, b and c are sides.
C is the angle opposite side c
Let's see how to use it in an example:
Example: How long is side "c" ... ?
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We know angle C = 37, a = 8 and b = 11
The Law of Cosines says: c
2
= a
2
+ b
2
- 2ab cos(C)

Put in the values we know: c
2
= 8
2
+ 11
2
- 2 8 11 cos(37)

Do some calculations: c
2
= 64 + 121 - 176 0.798

Which gives us: c
2
= 44.44...

Take the square root: c = 44.44 = 6.67 (to 2 decimal places)

Answer: c = 6.67