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Mathematics S4 MA6
Right angled triangles. Trigonometry.

6. TRIGONOMETRY. RIGHT ANGLED TRIANGLES

6.1. Sine, Cosine and Tangent

Sides in a right-angled triangle

When working in a right-angled triangle, the longest side is known as the hypotenuse. The
other two sides are known as the opposite and the adjacent. The adjacent is the side next
to a marked angle, and the opposite side is opposite to this angle.

Sine, Cosine and Tangent

For a right-angled triangle, the sine, cosine and tangent of the angle are defined as:

SOH CAH TOA

sin will always have the same value for any particular angle, regardless of the size of the triangle. The same is true for
cos and tan .

From the diagram alongside:

sin

√ √ √ √
cos

tan
√ √ √ √

Other trigonometric formulae

cos sin 1 tan

Proof Proof

cos sin
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/0*)-.12+.

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1 ∎ tan ∎

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Trigonometric Ratio Table

Angles
In =>° @A° B>°
Degrees
1 √2 √3
Sin
2 2 2
√3 √2 1
Cos
2 2 2
√3
Tan 1 √3
3
Proof
The proof is left as an exercise

Trigonometric ratios of complementary angles

Two angles are called complementary when their measures add to 90 degrees, and in this case, we say they complement
each other.
In a right-angled triangle, the two non-right angles (acute angles and E) are
complementary, because in any triangle the three interior angles add to 180°,
and 90° has already been taken by the right angle.
 E 90°, E 90° − , 90° − E
 sin cos790° − 8 cos E
 sin E cos790° − E8 cos
Examples
sin 70° cos 20°
cos 32° sin 58°

Greek Letters used to represent angles (lower-case letters)

Exercises

1. Determine all the unknown sides and angles in the following.

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2. Determine, to 2 decimal places, the unknown length.

3. At the entrance to a building there is a ramp for wheelchair access. The length
of the ramp is 5 metres, and it rises to a height of 0.6 metres. Determine the
angle that the ramp makes with the ground.

4. A goalpost was hit by lightning and snapped in two. The top of the post is now resting 15
m from its base at an angle of 25°. Determine the height of the goal post before it snapped.

5. [AB] is a chord of a circle with centre O and radius of length 5 cm. [AB] has length 8 cm.
What angle does [AB] subtend at the centre of the circle, i.e., what is the size of angle AOB?

6. The dimensions of a double garage are shown in the diagram alongside.

Calculate the height of the top of the roof above the ground.

7.
a) Draw an isosceles right-angled triangle and denote by L the length of its legs.
Calculate the exact values of the trigonometric ratios of an acute angle in this triangle.
b) Draw an equilateral triangle with side L and draw the height of this triangle
in order to obtain two right-angled triangles.
Calculate the exact values of the trigonometric ratios of the two acute
angles of one of the right-angled triangles.
c) Based on the previous questions, fill in the table alongside.

8. MNO is an equilateral triangle inscribed in a circle of radius 8 cm, centred at O.

Calculate the exact value of the area of the triangle MNO.

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9. In the figure shown, the triangle MNO is inscribed in the semicircle with centre P.
The area of the circle is 36R cm2.
a) Calculate the perimeter of ∆MNO.
b) Calculate the area of ∆MNO.

10. In the figure shown, the triangle MNO is inscribed in the semicircle with centre P.
The length of the line segment MO is 7 cm.
Give your answers rounded to one decimal place.
a) Calculate the perimeter of ∆MNO.
b) Calculate the area of ∆MNO.
c) Calculate the area of the circle.

11. Determine the exact values of T, U, E and V.

The triangles are not drawn to scale.

12. MNO is an isosceles triangle.

Consider E 28°.
Give your answers rounded to two decimal places.
a) Calculate the area of the triangle MNO.
b) Calculate the perimeter of the triangle MNO.

13. The diagram alongside shows a model of the airbus A380, one of the largest
passenger planes in the world.
You are given the isosceles triangle MNW, and the line segment MO, which is
the height of the triangle MNW perpendicular to the base NW.
MN MW, MO 51 m, and ∠NMW 76°.
Calculate the length of the line segment NW, the wingspan of the airbus A380.
Give your answer in meters rounded to one decimal place.
The diagram is not drawn to scale.

14. William points a switched-on torch at the wall and the light forms a cone with
height of 10 metres and an angle E 40°.
Calculate, to the nearest hundredth, the area of the circle that the light projects
onto the wall at a distance of 10 metres.

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15. An airbus, represented in the diagram by Z, is observed from two points on the
ground, M and N, with elevation angles of 50° and 70°, respectively.
Determine the value of ℎ, to the nearest hundredth.

16. To measure the height of point B, two points D and C

were chosen on the same horizontal plane the elevation
angles and were measured.
Calculate the height ℎ of the point B.

17. Consider the diagram alongside.

The diagram is not drawn to scale.
a) Calculate the size of the angle E, rounded to one decimal place.
b) Calculate, in metres, the value of T, rounded to two decimal places.
c) Calculate, in metres, the length MO, rounded to the nearest whole
number.

18. The diagram shows a rhombus MNWO with diagonals labelled \ and ].
It is known that E 54° and ] 7.8 cm.
a) Calculate the sizes of angles V, ` and a.
b) Calculate the length of diagonal \.
c) Calculate the perimeter of the rhombus.
d) Calculate the area of the rhombus.

19. Fill in the blanks with the correct sizes of the angles.
a) cos(47º) = sin(___) b) sin(81º) = cos(____) c) cos(90º – α) = sin(____)

20. Given that T is an acute angle and sin T 0.6

a) Calculate the exact value of cos T 0.5 tan T.
b) Using the calculator, calculate the size of T in degrees, rounded to one decimal place.

√
21. Given that T is an acute angle and cos T

a) Calculate the exact value of tan T − sin T.

b) Using the calculator, calculate the size of of T in degrees, rounded to one decimal place.

22. Given that T is an acute angle and tan T

b
c
Calculate the exact value of sin T − .

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23. Considering E an acute angle, prove the following:

a) 5 sin E ∙ tan E cos E ⟺ 2 cos E − 5 cos E − 1 0
b) 7sin E − cos E8 7sin E cos E8 2
9e
c) 1− sin E
: e
e : e
d)
: e e e

6.2. Pythagoras’ theorem and the converse of Pythagoras theorem. Properties of right-angled triangles.

Right-angled triangle
A right-angled triangle is a triangle which has a right angle as one of its angles.
 The side opposite the right angle is called hypotenuse and is the longest side of
the triangle.
 The other two sides are called legs of the triangle.

Pythagoras’ theorem
In any right-angled triangle, the area of the square on the hypotenuse is equal to the
sum of the areas of the squares on the other two sides, or in any right-angled triangle
the sum of the squares on the legs is equal to the square on the hypotenuse.
Algebraic notation: f L g
Proof
Lh\Li jk &m% j 4 ∙ Lh\L j( ki Lh\L&n ii j &m% j
∙o
7L g8 4∙ f

⟺L 2∙L∙g g 2∙L∙g f
⟺L g f ∎

The converse of Pythagoras’ theorem

If a triangle has sides of length L, g and f units and L g f , then the triangle is right angled.
Example
Is the triangle with sides 6 cm, 8 cm and 5 cm right angled?
5 6 8 ⟺ 25 36 64 ⟺ 61 64 False.
Therefore, the triangle with sides 6 cm, 8 cm and 5 cm is not right angled.

Pythagorean triples
The set of positive integers pL, g, fq, where f > 0 and f > g, is a Pythagorean triple if it obeys the rule L g f .
Examples
p3,4,5q and p5,12,13q are Pythagorean triples because the following is true 3 4 5 and rule 5 12 13

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Take the following into account in problem solving

 Draw a clear diagram which represents the situation
 Mark on known lengths and right angles
 Use a symbol such as T to represent the unknown length
 Write down Pythagoras’ theorem for the given information
 Solve the equation
 Write your answer in sentence form

Properties of a right-angled triangle

 A right-angled triangle is half of a rectangle; its hypotenuse is a diagonal of the rectangle; its non-right angles are
complementary
 The length of the median line extended from the right-angle is equal to half of the hypotenuse
Proof
In the right-angled triangle MNO, the line segment MN is its hypotenuse
s is the midpoint of hypotenuse MN
ss′ is parallel to NO, therefore s′ is the midpoint of the line segment MO
Os Os′ ss′
uv wv
⟺ Os ' '
uv 9 wv 9
⟺ Os
uv 9 :wv 9
⟺ Os
uw9
⟺ Os ∵ Pythagoras theorem
uw uw
⟺ Os ' Therefore, Os

 The midpoint of the hypotenuse is the centre of the circumscribed circle of the triangle
Proof
In the right-angled triangle MNP, the line segment MN is its hypotenuse
s is the midpoint of hypotenuse MN
ss′ is parallel to NP, therefore s′ is the midpoint of the line segment MP
ss′′ is parallel to MP, therefore s′′ is the midpoint of the line segment PN
o
Ms ' ' ∵ Pythagoras theorem for ∆Mss′
9 o9
⟺ Ms
9 :o9 y 9 :o9
⟺ Ms Therefore, Ms

o o
Ns ' ' ∵ Pythagoras theorem for ∆Nss′′ 0s ' ' ∵ Pythagoras theorem ∆Pss′′
9 o9 9 o9
⟺ Ns ⟺ Ps
9 :o9 y 9 :o9 9 :o9 y 9 :o9
⟺ Ns Therefore, Ns ⟺ Ps Therefore, Ps
y 9 :o9
Therefore, P, N and M belong to the circumference with centre s, the midpoint of the hypotenuse, and radius

 The hypotenuse is the diameter of the circumscribed circle.

Proof
The previous proof shows that MN is the diameter of the circumscribed circle.
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Exercises

24. Determine the length of [AC].

25. Determine the distance AB in the following figures.

a) b) c)

26. The following triangles are not drawn to scale. Which of the triangles is (are) right-angled?
For those that are right-angled triangles, identify the right angle and determine the area.
a) b) c)

27. Determine which of the following are Pythagorean triples.

a) p6,8,10q b) p14,49,50q c) p20,48,52q

28. For what values of z does pz, z 1, z 2q form a Pythagorean triple?

29. Show that pz, z 1, z 3q cannot form a Pythagorean triple.

30. The floor of a room is 6 m by 4 m, and its height is 3 m. Determine the distance from a corner point on the floor to the
opposite corner point on the ceiling.

31. The diagram below shows a triangular prism.

The triangle MN{ is right-angled.
M{ 2 cm, MW 6 cm and |}~ • 42 cm3.
Calculate the length of
a) N{ b) M€ c) O{