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KMA002 - Applied

Mathematics Foundation
Geometry & Trigonometry

Overview of the lecture


- Cosine and sine rules

Right Angle Triangle


The right angle triangle has one angle of 90,
and the other two angles are
complementary (they add to 90)
#

  =  + 


sin  =




cos  =




tan  =




"

Non-Right Angled Triangles


So far we have used trigonometry to solve for
angles and side lengths in right angled triangles.
In general most triangles are not right-angled.
So how do we solve for angles and side lengths in
non-right angled triangles?
There are two rules we can use to solve for angles
and side lengths in non-right angled triangles.
They are:
i. the sine rule, and
ii. the cosine rule
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Non-Right Angled Triangles


Consider the triangle below. Recall that the angles and
vertices are represented
using capital letters ", #
and $ and the side
lengths are represented
as lower case letters
, and .
Notice that the angle " is opposite side length ,
angle # is opposite side length and angle $ is
opposite side length .
This notation is important when it comes to the sine
rule and cosine rule.

Now this triangle has no right angles. Let us drop a


perpendicular from vertex $. It can now be observed that:

sin " = = sin(")


1
sin # = = sin(#)


= sin # = sin(")

*+, 

*+, .
/

Let us now repeat this, with a perpendicular from ":


sin # =

0


0
,
/

and sin $ = so 1 = sin $ =  sin # ,


sin "
sin $
sin #
=
=




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Sine Rule
The sine rule states:
sin "
sin #
sin $
=
=



Alternatively:



=
=
sin "
sin #
sin $

The sine rule can be applied to any triangle.

Example 1
Consider the triangle ABC below and solve for the
unknown side lengths and angles.

Exercise 2
Consider the triangle ABC below and solve for the
unknown side lengths and angles.

Again, we have a triangle that has no right angles. Let us


drop a perpendicular from vertex $.
It can now be observed that:

sin " = = sin(")



2

cos " = 2 = cos(")



Using Pythagoras Theorem,
2
we see that
 =  +  2 
Substituting and 2 we have:
 = ( sin " ) +  cos " 
=  sin (") +   2  cos " +  cos "
=  sin " + cos  " +   2  cos(")
=  +   2  cos(")
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Cosine Rule
The cosine rule states:
 =  +   2  cos(")
 =  +   2  cos(#)
  =  +  2 cos($)

The cosine rule can be applied to any triangle.

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Example 3.
Consider the triangle ABC below and solve for the
unknown angles.

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Exercise 4
Consider the triangle ABC below and solve for the
unknown side lengths and angles.

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Sine and Cosine Rules


Let us now apply the sine and cosine rule to a right-angled
triangle:
  =  +  2 cos(90)
*+, 

*+, .
/

*+, 56


Now, cos 90 = 0 and sin 90 = 1,


  =  + 

*+, 
$

"

sin
sin

*+, .
8
=
=
/


" = and sin #


 =


/


Exercise 5
Two wires support a tall pole. One wire
forms an angle of 36 with the ground and
the other forms an angle of 70 with the
ground. The wires are 29m apart. How tall
is the pole

Conventional and true bearing


Navigational problems require the knowledge of bearings.
A true bearing is an angle measured in degrees in a
clockwise direction from the North line.
A conventional bearing is stated as the number of degrees
East or West of the North-South line.
Considering the figure below, determine the true and
conventional bearings from O to A,B,C and D.
Bearing:

true

conventional

OA
OB
OC
OD
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Exercise 6
A man walks 5km due North and then turns 30 to the
East and walks a further 6km. How far away from his
original position is he?

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Exercise 6
On what bearing should he have originally walked to
get to his final position?

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Exercise 7 (from last years exam)


There is a coastline with two lighthouses one on either
side of a beach. The two lighthouses are 1.25 km
apart and one is exactly due east of the other. The
lighthouses tell how close a boat is by taking the
bearings to the boat. The lighthouse A measures
bearing of N60E, and lighthouse B bearing of N80W.
Calculate the distance between the boat and two
lighthouses.

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