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Sine and Cosine Rules, and Area of Triangle Formula

This document provides formulas for calculating properties of triangles: 1) The Area of Triangle Formula uses two sides and the angle between them to calculate the area. 2) The Sine Rule relates the ratios of sides to opposite angles, and can be used when two sides and an angle or more than one angle and one side are known. 3) The Cosine Rule relates sides and angles, and can be used when three sides or two sides and an adjacent angle are known to find an unknown angle or side. It is preferable to use the Sine Rule when possible. Two examples demonstrate applying the Sine and Cosine Rules to find angles and side lengths.

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Sayed Daniyal Ali
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226 views2 pages

Sine and Cosine Rules, and Area of Triangle Formula

This document provides formulas for calculating properties of triangles: 1) The Area of Triangle Formula uses two sides and the angle between them to calculate the area. 2) The Sine Rule relates the ratios of sides to opposite angles, and can be used when two sides and an angle or more than one angle and one side are known. 3) The Cosine Rule relates sides and angles, and can be used when three sides or two sides and an adjacent angle are known to find an unknown angle or side. It is preferable to use the Sine Rule when possible. Two examples demonstrate applying the Sine and Cosine Rules to find angles and side lengths.

Uploaded by

Sayed Daniyal Ali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sine and Cosine Rules, and Area of Triangle Formula

The great thing about these formulas is that they work for any triangle, not just right-angled
ones.

We label the triangle as below; the sides are labeled with little letters and the angles with
capitals. Angle A must be opposite side a, angle B opposite side b, and angle C opposite side
c.

b
a
C

A
B

Area of Triangle Formula

1
Area = ab sin C
2

Important points: Use any two sides and the angle between them.

Sine Rule

a b c
 
sin A sin B sin C

Important points: You can also use this formula upside down if it’s easier
sin A sin B sin C
 
a b c
Use this formula if you know two sides and the angle opposite one of the sides, and you want
to work out another angle or if you know more than one angle and one side, and you want to
work out another side

Cosine Rule
a 2  b 2  c 2  2bc cos A

Important points: You can also use this formula with the letters interchanged, or rearranged
b2  c 2  a 2
to get the angle: b 2  a 2  c 2  2ac cos B c 2  a 2  b 2  2ab cos C cos A 
2bc
Use this formula if you know three sides and want to find an angle or if you know 2 sides and 1
angle but the angle is opposite the side you don’t know
Always use the sine rule instead if you can – it’s much easier to use

Examples of Sine and Cosine Rule

Example 1

A triangle has sides of length 9 cm, 16 cm and 11 cm. Find the largest angle in
the triangle.

Example 2

In triangle ABC, BC = 5 cm, A  43 and B  61 . Find the length of AC.

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