Trigonometry

TRIGONOMETRY
I. Problem Solving (pp 110-112)
Angle of elevation and angle of depression (see Figure 6-3) are two terms that come up often in
right triangle word problems. They just refer to whether the angle rises from the horizon, angle
of elevation, or falls from the horizon, angle of depression.
1. When the sun is at an angle of elevation of 32°, a building casts a shadow that’s 152 feet from its
base. What is the height of the building?
2. Two boat captains whose boats are in a straight line from a lighthouse look up to the top of the
lighthouse at the same time. The captain of boat A sees the top of the 40-foot lighthouse from an
angle of elevation of 45°, while the captain of boat B sees the top of the lighthouse from an angle
of elevation of 30°. How far are the boats from each other, to the nearest foot?
3. Romero wants to deliver a rose to his girlfriend, Jules, who is sitting on her balcony 24 feet above
the street. If Romero has a 28-foot ladder, at what angle must he place the bottom of the ladder
to reach his love, Jules?
4. Sam needs to cross a river. He spies a bridge directly ahead of him. Looking across the river, he
sees that he’s 27° below the bridge from the other side. How far must he walk on his side of the
river to reach the bridge if the bridge length is 40 feet?
5. Paul, a 6-foot-tall man, is holding the end of a kite string 5 feet above the ground. The string of
the kite is 75-feet long at 35° of elevation. Paulette, Paul’s 5-foot-tall daughter, is directly
underneath the kite. How far above Paulette’s head is the kite?
6. To hold up a 100-foot pole, two guide wires are put up on opposite sides of the pole. One wire
makes a 36° angle with the ground and the other makes a 47° angle with the ground. How far
apart are the bases of the wires?
II. Making and Measuring Arcs (pp 120-122)
To calculate the measure of an arc, a portion of the circumference of a circle like the path that
pesky ant is taking, you need to remember that arcs can be measured in two ways: as an angle
and as a length. As an angle, there’s nothing to calculate — it’s simply the same measure as the
central angle. As a length, the measure of the arc is directly proportional to the circumference
𝜽
of the circle. Here’s a nifty formula to give you this value: 𝒔 = ⋅ 𝟐𝝅𝒓
𝟑𝟔𝟎
1. Let’s find out about that ant! A pesky ant is on the edge of a 6-inch CD. How far does the ant
travel if the CD spins at 120°?
2. Find the length of an arc in a circle with a radius of 4 feet if the central angle is π⁄6.
3. Find the length of an arc in a circle with a diameter of 16 centimeters if the central angle is 7π⁄4.
4. Find the length of an arc in a circle with a radius of 18 feet if the angle is 210°.
5. Find the radius of an arc in a circle that has an arc length of 42 inches if the angle is 2 radians.
III. Solving a Triangle with the Law of Sines: ASA and AAS (pp 177-178)
𝐴 𝑏 𝑐
= =
sin 𝐴 sin 𝐵 sin 𝐶
1. Solve the triangle if A = 54°, B = 28°, and c = 11.2.
2. Solve the triangle if B = 46°, C = 62°, and a = 21.
3. Solve the triangle if A = 19°, C = 100°, and b = 4.4.
4. Solve the triangle if A = 49°, B = 21°, and a = 5.
5. Solve the triangle if A = 110°, C = 56°, and a = 8.
IV. Tackling Triangles in the Ambiguous Case: SSA (pp 179-180)

1. Solve the triangle if a = 25, c = 15, and C = 40°.
2. Solve the triangle if b = 8, c = 14, and C = 37°.
3. Solve the triangle if b = 5, c = 12, and B = 20°.
4. Solve the triangle if a = 10, c = 24, and A = 102°.
5. Solve the triangle if b = 10, c = 24, and B = 20°.
V. Conquering a Triangle with the Law of Cosines: SAS and SSS (pp 180-181)
The Law of Cosines is:
𝒂𝟐 = 𝒃𝟐 + 𝒄𝟐 − 𝟐𝒃𝒄 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝑨
𝒃𝟐 = 𝒂𝟐 + 𝒄𝟐 − 𝟐𝒂𝒄 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝑩
𝒄𝟐 = 𝒂𝟐 + 𝒃𝟐 − 𝟐𝒂𝒃 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝑪
1. Solve the triangle if A = 40°, b = 10, and c = 7.
2. Solve the triangle if C = 120°, a = 6, and b = 10.
3. Solve the triangle if A = 70°, b = 6, and c = 7.
4. Solve the triangle if a = 9, b = 5, and c = 7.
5. Solve the triangle if a = 7.3, b = 9.9, and c = 16.
VI. Using Oblique Triangles to Solve Word Problems (pp 182-184)

1. A plane flies for 300 miles in a straight line, makes a 45° turn, and continues for 700 miles. How
far is it from its starting point?
2. Two fire towers are exactly 5 miles apart in a forest. They both spot a forest fire, one at an angle
of 30° and the other at an angle of 42°. Which tower is closer?
3. Two trains leave a station at the same time on different tracks that have an angle of 100° between
them. If the first train is a passenger train that travels 90 miles per hour and the second train is a
cargo train that can only travel 50 miles per hour, how far apart are the two trains after three
hours?
4. A radio tower is built on top of a hill. The hill makes an angle of 15° with the ground. The tower is
200 feet tall and located 150 feet from the bottom of the hill. If a wire is to connect the top of the
tower with the bottom of the hill, how long does the wire need to be?
5. A mapmaker stands on one side of a river looking at a flagpole on an island at an angle of 85°. She
then walks in a straight line for 100 meters, turns, and looks back at the same flagpole at an angle
of 40°. Find the distance from her first location to the flagpole.
6. Two scientists stand 350 feet apart, both looking at the same tree somewhere in between them.
The first scientist measures an angle of 44° from the ground to the top of the tree. The second
scientist measures an angle of 63° from the ground to the top of the tree. How tall is the tree?
VII. Figuring Flatness (Area) (pp 184-185)

𝟏
• The area of the triangle like figure below is 𝑨 = 𝒂𝒃 𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝑪
𝟐
• You can also find the area when you know all three sides (a, b, and c) by using what’s
called Heron’s Formula. It says that the area of a triangle is
√𝒔(𝒔 − 𝒂)(𝒔 − 𝒃)(𝒔 − 𝒄)
𝟏
Where 𝒔 = (𝒂 + 𝒃 + 𝒄) The variable s is called the semiperimeter, or half of the
𝟐
triangle’s perimeter
1. Find the area of the triangle where b = 4, c = 7, and A = 36°.
2. Find the area of the triangle where a = 7, c = 17, and B = 68°.
3. Find the area of the triangle on the coordinate plane with vertices at (–5, 2), (5, 6), and (4, 0).
References
Burger, C.; Neal, Karina; Gilman, M.R. 2009. Pre-Calculus Workbook for Dummies. Wiley Publisihing, Inc.

Trigonometry

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TRIGONOMETRY

I. Problem Solving (pp 110-112)

II. Making and Measuring Arcs (pp 120-122)

IV. Tackling Triangles in the Ambiguous Case: SSA (pp 179-180)

The Law of Cosines is:

VI. Using Oblique Triangles to Solve Word Problems (pp 182-184)

VII. Figuring Flatness (Area) (pp 184-185)

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