This week we learned how to find the side of (x) using trigonometric ratios. trigonometric ratios are ratios including Sine, Cosine, and tangent. here above is my examples of learning.
when solving for for the missing side of a (right triangle) you should
- Label all of your sides to indicate which side is missing
- figure out which trigonometric ratio is best fitting for your equation ( in this case we are solving with Tangent)
- using tangent your equation should be opposite over Adjacent (also remember your triangle has a degree which is tangents best friend)
- tangent can be shortened to Tan —– and the 20 degree can be put with the Tan. it should look like this —– Tan20 degree
- Now we are left with X and 60 and we know we are solving for x, so we need to isolate X
- to isolate x you will write down what is given o you first, in this case we have Tan20 = X/60 (this means X over 60) (we put the x over the 60 because we are using tangent which is opposite over adjacent)
- know that we have Tan20 = X/60 we want to multiply 60 to both sides so we are left with 60 x Tan20 = X because we cancelled the 60 on the other side.
- we can see that X is isolated so we just punch 60 x Tan20 into our scientific calculators to solve for X, in this case X = 21.8
I chose this topic because learning how to find missing sides of a triangle is a crucial part of trigonometry, as learning this can also help with things like solving for the degree of a tringle and such. I also chose this for myself to learn and grasp better, as sometime I do forget which trigonometric ratio to use when solving. it is always important to remember SOH CAH TOA, when looking at a triangle with a missing angle you just look at which sides you have, an whatever sides you have that correlate with one of the sections of SOH CAH TOA, that is the one you will use. remember SOH = Sin, CAH = Cosine, TOA = Tangent.