RIGHT TRIANGLE TRIG & VECTOR MATHUnit 2 (Chapter 1 in Cutnell book.)

RIGHT TRIANGLES c = hypotenuse

Pythagorean theorem: a2 + b2 = c2

a

b

c

Knowing 2 legs of a right triangle, you can calculate the third leg using the Pythagorean Theorem.

RIGHT TRIANGLE TRIG

a

b

c

Trigonometric functions are ratios of a pair of sides of a right triangle, and depend only on one of the angles, Ɵ

Ɵ

SOH-CAH-TOA

a

b

c

You can only label the sides AFTER you have identified the angle!

Ɵ

𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒h𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡h𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡

INVERSE TRIG FUNCTIONS

a

b

c

When two sides of the triangle are known, and the angle Ɵ is unknown, use inverse Trig Functions.

Ɵ

EXAMPLE 1 Find:sinƟcosƟƟ

Ɵ

6

8

EXAMPLE 2 A chimp sitting against his favorite tree gets up and walks 51m due east and 39m due south to reach a termite mound. A)what is the shortest distance between the tree and the termite mound?

B) What angle does the shortest distance make with respect to due east?

HOMEWORKTrig WS for PhysicsDue tomorrow!This WS will be graded for correctness.

1 point for drawing a picture, 1 point for showing work, 1 point for correct answer.