Solving Right Triangles

Solving Right Triangles

It's time to practice what you've learned. Try the following examples in your notebooks. Solve for x.

Angle of Elevation: the angle that an observer would raise his or her line of sight above a horizontal line in order to see an object. Angle of Depression If an observer were up above and needed to look down, the angle of depression would be the angle that the person would need to lower lower his or her line of sight.

One of the most important applications of trigonometric functions is to “solve” a right triangle. By now, you should know that every right triangle has five unknowns: the lengths of its three sides and the measures of its two acute angles. Solving the triangle means finding the values of these unknowns. You can use trigonometric functions to solve a right triangle if you are given either of the following sets of information:The length of one side and the measure of one acute angleThe lengths of two sides

Example 4

Example 3

Example 2

Example 1

What are angles of elevation and depression?

How do you use sine, cosine, and tangent to find missing angles?

How do you use sine, cosine, and tangent to find missing side lengths?

Sine, Cosine and Tangent are the three main functions in trigonometry.