High School Math : Triangles

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Math

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Example Questions

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Example Question #3 : Applying The Law Of Sines

In  , , and . To the nearest tenth, what is ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since we are given  and want to find , we apply the Law of Sines, which states, in part,

 and

Substitute in the above equation:

Cross-multiply and solve for :

Example Question #1 : Applying The Law Of Sines

In  , , and . To the nearest tenth, what is ?

Possible Answers:

No triangle can exist with these characteristics.

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since we are given  , , and , and want to find , we apply the Law of Sines, which states, in part,

.

Substitute and solve for :

Take the inverse sine of 0.6355:

There are two angles between  and  that have any given positive sine other than 1 - we get the other by subtracting the previous result from :

This, however, is impossible, since this would result in the sum of the triangle measures being greater than . This leaves  as the only possible answer.

Example Question #61 : Pre Calculus

Rt_triangle_letters

In this figure, angle . If side  and , what is the value of angle ?

Possible Answers:

Undefined

Correct answer:

Explanation:

For this problem, use the law of sines:

.

In this case, we have values that we can plug in:

Example Question #6 : Applying The Law Of Sines

Rt_triangle_lettersIn this figure, if angle , side , and side , what is the value of angle ?

(NOTE: Figure not necessarily drawn to scale.)

Possible Answers:

Undefined

Correct answer:

Explanation:

First, observe that this figure is clearly not drawn to scale. Now, we can solve using the law of sines:

.

In this case, we have values that we can plug in:

Example Question #1 : Finding Sides

Solve for .

Question_7

(Figure not drawn to scale).

Possible Answers:

There is not enough information

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The side-angle-side (SAS) postulate can be used to determine that the triangles are similar. Both triangles share the angle farthest to the right. In the smaller triangle, the upper edge has a length of , and in the larger triangle is has a length of . In the smaller triangle, the bottom edge has a length of , and in the larger triangle is has a length of . We can test for comparison.

The statement is true, so the triangles must be similar.

We can use this ratio to solve for the missing side length.

To simplify, we will only use the lower edge and left edge comparison.

Cross multiply.

Example Question #2 : Solving Triangles

Solve for .

Question_12

(Figure not drawn to scale).

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

We can solve using the trigonometric definition of tangent.

We are given the angle and the adjacent side.

We can find  with a calculator.

Example Question #3 : Solving Triangles

Trig_id

If  equals  and  is , how long is 

Possible Answers:

Not enough information to solve

Correct answer:

Explanation:

This problem can be easily solved using trig identities.  We are given the hypotenuse  and .  We can then calculate side  using the .

Rearrange to solve for .

If you calculated the side to equal  then you utilized the  function rather than the .

Example Question #4 : Solving Triangles

Triangle

What is the length of CB?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

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