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Example Questions
Example Question #2981 : Act Math
What is the sine of the angle formed between the origin and the point if that angle is formed with one side of the angle beginning on the
-axis and then rotating counter-clockwise to
?
You can begin by imagining a little triangle in the fourth quadrant to find your reference angle. It would look like this:
Now, to find the sine of that angle, you will need to find the hypotenuse of the triangle. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, , where
and
are leg lengths and
is the length of the hypotenuse, the hypotenuse is
, or, for our data:
The sine of an angle is:
For our data, this is:
Since this is in the fourth quadrant, it is negative, because sine is negative in that quadrant.
Example Question #2981 : Act Math
What is the sine of the angle formed between the origin and the point if that angle is formed with one side of the angle beginning on the
-axis and then rotating counter-clockwise to
?
You can begin by imagining a little triangle in the third quadrant to find your reference angle. It would look like this:
Now, to find the sine of that angle, you will need to find the hypotenuse of the triangle. Using the Pythagorean Theorem, , where
and
are leg lengths and
is the length of the hypotenuse, the hypotenuse is
, or, for our data:
The sine of an angle is:
For our data, this is:
Since this is in the third quadrant, it is negative, because sine is negative in that quadrant.
Example Question #2982 : Act Math
If , what is the value of
if
?
Recall that the triangle appears as follows in radians:
Now, the sine of is
. However, if you rationalize the denominator, you get:
Since , we know that
must be represent an angle in the third quadrant (where the sine function is negative). Adding its reference angle to
, we get:
Therefore, we know that:
, meaning that
Example Question #1 : How To Find Positive Sine
If , what is
? Round to the nearest hundredth.
Recall that the sine wave is symmetrical with respect to the origin. Therefore, for any value , the value for
is
. Therefore, if
is
, then for
, it will be
.
Example Question #11 : Sine
In a right triangle, cos(A) = . What is sin(A)?
In a right triangle, for sides a and b, with c being the hypotenuse, . Thus if cos(A) is
, then c = 14, and the side adjacent to A is 11. Therefore, the side opposite of angle A is the square root of
, which is
Since sin is
, sin(A) is
.
Example Question #2985 : Act Math
What is the value of ?
As with all trigonometry problems, begin by considering how you could rearrange the question. They often have hidden easy ways out. So begin by noticing:
Now, you can treat like it is any standard denominator. Therefore:
Combine your fractions and get:
Now, from our trig identities, we know that , so we can say:
Now, for our triangle, the is
. Therefore,
Example Question #1 : How To Find Positive Sine
Solve for :
if
Recall that the standard triangle, in radians, looks like:
Since , you can tell that
.
Therefore, you can say that must equal
:
Solving for , you get:
Example Question #1 : How To Find A Missing Side With Sine
You have a 30-60-90 triangle. If the hypotenuse length is 8, what is the length of the side opposite the 30 degree angle?
4√3
4√2
3√3
4
3
4
sin(30º) = ½
sine = opposite / hypotenuse
½ = opposite / 8
Opposite = 8 * ½ = 4
Example Question #2 : How To Find A Missing Side With Sine
If a right triangle has a 30 degree angle, and the opposite leg of the 30 degree angle has a measure of 12, what is the value of the hypotenuse?
12 * 21/2
18
24
12 * 31/2
15
24
Use SOHCAHTOA. Sin(30) = 12/x, then 12/sin(30) = x = 24.
You can also determine the side with a measure of 12 is the smallest side in a 30:60:90 triangle. The hypotenuse would be twice the length of the smallest leg.
Example Question #2 : How To Find A Missing Side With Sine
The radius of the above circle is .
is the center of the circle.
. Find the length of chord
.
We can solve for the length of the chord by drawing a line the bisects the angle and the chord, shown below as .
In this circle, we can see the triangle has a hypotenuse equal to the radius of the circle (
), an angle
equal to half the angle made by the chord, and a side
that is half the length of the chord. By using the sine function, we can solve for
.
The length of the entire chord is twice the length of , so the entire chord length is
.
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