Thread: solving rt triangles

I have a test on wed and I want to make sure I know what I am doing.
I know sin angle=a/c, cos angle= b/c, and tan angle= a/b and for a rt trianlge a^2+b^2=c^2. The problem I am working on gives the angle 27 degrees and we know another angle is 90 degrees, I used a, b and c for the sides and a=3. so, I took sin27=3/c, c=3/sin27 = 6.61. Then I took tan27=3/b= b=3/tan27= 5.88. Does this look correct and is there a way to check to see if it is right?

Originally Posted by kcsteven

I have a test on wed and I want to make sure I know what I am doing.
I know sin angle=a/c, cos angle= b/c, and tan angle= a/b and for a rt trianlge a^2+b^2=c^2. The problem I am working on gives the angle 27 degrees and we know another angle is 90 degrees, I used a, b and c for the sides and a=3. so, I took sin27=3/c, c=3/sin27 = 6.61. Then I took tan27=3/b= b=3/tan27= 5.88. Does this look correct and is there a way to check to see if it is right?

I didn't check the numbers, but the logic looks correct. As to checking your answer:

"When it doubt, draw it out!" If you've got a protractor and a ruler you can draw these.

-Dan