B: Solving Right Triangles
B: Solving Right Triangles
You now have several tools available to determine unknown angle measures and side lengths in a right triangle. These include the sine, cosine, and tangent ratios, the Pythagorean theorem, and the triangle angle sum. You can use all of these tools to solve right triangles.
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Solving a Right Triangle
Determining all unknown side lengths and angle measures in a right triangle |
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Example 1 |
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Solve the following triangle. Express any angle to the nearest degree and any length to the nearest tenth.
Use a trigonometric ratio to determine one of the unknown angle measures from the two known side lengths.
The two acute angles in a right triangle add to 90°. (All three angles sum to 180° and the right angle is 90°.)
Use the Pythagorean theorem to determine the length of the hypotenuse from the two known side lengths.
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