Draw a right triangle to
scale, with one leg 8 cm long and the adjacent
acute angle 34° . Draw on paper with ruler and
protractor or on the computer with a program
such as The Geometer’s Sketchpad.
a. Measure the opposite leg and the
hypotenuse to the nearest 0.1 cm.
b. Calculate the lengths of the opposite leg
and the hypotenuse using appropriate
trigonometric functions. Show that your
measured values and the calculated values
agree within 0.1 cm.
scale, with one leg 8 cm long and the adjacent
acute angle 34° . Draw on paper with ruler and
protractor or on the computer with a program
such as The Geometer’s Sketchpad.
a. Measure the opposite leg and the
hypotenuse to the nearest 0.1 cm.
b. Calculate the lengths of the opposite leg
and the hypotenuse using appropriate
trigonometric functions. Show that your
measured values and the calculated values
agree within 0.1 cm.
-
all it's asking you to do really is compare the measurements on paper to what you would get if you used trigonometric functions for right triangles. i'm assuming you know how to draw it, so here are the functions:
Tan(theta)=opposite/adjacent
Tan(34)=x/8
Tan(34)*8=x
x= 5.4 (this is the length of the other leg, not the hypotenuse)
Cos(theta)=adjacent/hypotenuse
Cos(34)=8/x
8/cos34=x
x= 9.65 (the length of the hypotenuse)
you know on angle is 34 and the other is 90. all angles in a triangle = 180degrees
180-34-90 = 56degrees
Tan(theta)=opposite/adjacent
Tan(34)=x/8
Tan(34)*8=x
x= 5.4 (this is the length of the other leg, not the hypotenuse)
Cos(theta)=adjacent/hypotenuse
Cos(34)=8/x
8/cos34=x
x= 9.65 (the length of the hypotenuse)
you know on angle is 34 and the other is 90. all angles in a triangle = 180degrees
180-34-90 = 56degrees