In a right triangle how do you find an angle if all you know is the length of the hypotenus and a the length of a leg?
2006-11-27 10:51:18 · 3 answers · asked by Ike A 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
It depends on which leg you know the length of. If it's the "adjacent"leg--the one that, along with the hypotenuse, forms the angle--then remember that the cosine of an angle is defined as the length of the adjacent angle divided by the length of the hypotenuse.
If it's the "opposite" leg--the one that isn't part of the angle--then you use the fact that the sine is defined as the length of the opposite leg divided by the length of the hypotenuse.
Either way, you use the inverse trig functions on your calculator to find the angle.
2006-11-27 10:56:31 · answer #1 · answered by Amy F 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Tangent of an angle equals the opposite leg divided by the adjacent leg, but I think you're looking for sine or cosine (sine of an angle equals opposite leg divided by hypotenuse, cosine of an angle equals adjacent leg divided by hypotenuse) So basically just take the inverse of sine or cosine (the arcsine or arccosine) to find the angle.
2006-11-27 10:54:55 · answer #2 · answered by Carolyn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
tan=opp/adj therefore you take tanx=opp/adj then you take the inverse tan^-1 of opp/adj. to find the other length of the leg you do pythagorean theoreom. a^2 + b^2 = c^2. and solve from there. (c is the hypotenuse.
2006-11-27 10:54:14 · answer #3 · answered by xstraight_edge_emo_kidx 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋