MEPX
Chapter 7 of 10All chapters

Chapter 7 of 10

Trigonometry

Angles into lengths.

The three ratios

In a right-angled triangle, sine is opposite over hypotenuse, cosine is adjacent over hypotenuse, and tangent is opposite over adjacent.

  • Label the sides relative to the angle you are using, not the diagram's orientation.
  • Inverse functions turn a ratio back into an angle.

Beyond right angles

The sine and cosine rules handle any triangle. They are what surveying, navigation and physics use when nothing is conveniently square.