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Sin Cos and Tan rules

Hi, so I really don't get how to rearrange sin cos and tan to work out angles and sides, its one of my worst topics in GCSE maths and it comes up on most of the papers, so I really want to figure out how to do it before my exam.
I get the basics, so for sin you use the opposite and hypotenuse, for tan you use opposite and adjacent, I just don't get what you do from there.
All help is appreciated, thanks
Original post by Beth Mitchell
Hi, so I really don't get how to rearrange sin cos and tan to work out angles and sides, its one of my worst topics in GCSE maths and it comes up on most of the papers, so I really want to figure out how to do it before my exam.
I get the basics, so for sin you use the opposite and hypotenuse, for tan you use opposite and adjacent, I just don't get what you do from there.
All help is appreciated, thanks


Use SOHCAHTOA :smile:
sin= opposite / hypotenuse
cosine= adjacent/hypotenuse
tan=opposite/adjacent
Original post by Beth Mitchell
Hi, so I really don't get how to rearrange sin cos and tan to work out angles and sides, its one of my worst topics in GCSE maths and it comes up on most of the papers, so I really want to figure out how to do it before my exam.
I get the basics, so for sin you use the opposite and hypotenuse, for tan you use opposite and adjacent, I just don't get what you do from there.
All help is appreciated, thanks


Hard to explain here but label them on a diagram, substitute them into the correct equation and enter in your calculator. Maybe Youtube videos would help, there are actually quite a few Maths teachers on there. Remember it can only be used for right angled triangles.
Hope this helps in some way :smile:
Reply 3
Avatar for S.G.
S.G.
22
When you know the opposite/hypotenuse, do sin-1 to it. That gives you angle. The angle that this gives was the one which had the two sides opposite and hypotenuse to it

http://www.examsolutions.net/maths-revision/syllabuses/GCSE/period-1/Higher/module.php

Go to trig section by scrolling down
Like you said, find those values. Then you multiply or divide them depending on the scenario. Use the formula triangle I have attached to see what to do when you have each bit.
image.gif10.8KB
Original post by MezmorisedPotato
Like you said, find those values. Then you multiply or divide them depending on the scenario. Use the formula triangle I have attached to see what to do when you have each bit.


That makes so much sense now!! Thanks!!!

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