Trigonometry (from Greek trigonon "triangle" + metron "measure")

Want to learn Trigonometry? Here is a quick summary.
Follow the links for more, or go to Trigonometry Index

Trigonometry ... is all about triangles.

Trigonometry helps us find angles and distances, and is used a lot in science, engineering, video games, and more!

Right-Angled Triangle

The triangle of most interest is the right-angled triangle. The right angle is shown by the little box in the corner:

Another angle is often labeled θ, and the three sides are then called:

• Adjacent: adjacent (next to) the angle θ
• Opposite: opposite the angle θ
• and the longest side is the Hypotenuse

Why?

Why is this triangle so important?
Imagine we can measure along and up but want to know the direct distance and angle:

Or we have a distance and angle and need to "plot the dot" along and up:

Questions like these are common in engineering, computer animation and more.
And trigonometry gives the answers!

Sine, Cosine and Tangent

The main functions in trigonometry are Sine, Cosine and Tangent

They are simply one side of a right-angled triangle divided by another.

For any angle "θ":

(Sine, Cosine and Tangent are often abbreviated to sin, cos and tan.)

Example: What is the sine of 35°?

Using this triangle (lengths are only to one decimal place):

sin(35°) = OppositeHypotenuse = 2.84.9 = 0.57...

Calculators have sin, cos and tan, let's see how to use them:

Example: What is the missing height here?

• We know the Hypotenuse
• We want to know the Opposite

Sine is the ratio of Opposite / Hypotenuse:

sin(45°) = OppositeHypotenuse

Get a calculator, type in "45", then the "sin" key:

sin(45°) = 0.7071...

0.7071... is the ratio of the side lengths: in other words the Opposite is about 0.7071 times as long as the Hypotenuse.
Maybe you can figure out the height now?
But let's do it formally using some algebra:

Start with:sin(45°) = OppositeHypotenuse

Put in what we know:0.7071... = Opposite20

Swap sides:Opposite20 = 0.7071...

Multiply both sides by 20:Opposite = 0.7071... × 20

Calculate:Opposite = 14.14 (to 2 decimals)

Done!

Try Sin Cos and Tan