Applications of Trigonometry

Introduction
Trigonometry (from Greek trignon, "triangle" and metron, measure) is a branch of
mathematics that studies relationships involving lengths and angles of triangles. The field
emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to
astronomical studies. Sumerian astronomers studied angle measure, using a division of circles
into 360 degrees. In 140 BC, Hipparchus (from Nicaea, Asia Minor) gave the first tables of
chords, analogous to modern tables of sine values, and used them to solve problems in
trigonometry and spherical trigonometry. The works of the Scottish mathematicians James
Gregory in the 17th century and Colin Maclaurin in the 18th century were influential in the
development of trigonometric series. Also in the 18th century, Brook Taylor defined the
general Taylor series.
Application
Amongst the lay public of non-mathematicians and non-scientists, trigonometry is known
chiefly for its application to measurement problems, yet is also often used in ways that are far
more subtle, such as its place in the theory of music; still other uses are more technical, such
as in number theory.
For the 25 years preceding the invention of the logarithm in 1614, prosthaphaeresis was the
only known generally applicable way of approximating products quickly. It used the
identities for the trigonometric functions of sums and differences of angles in terms of the
products of trigonometric functions of those angles.
Scientific fields that make use of trigonometry include:
acoustics, architecture, astronomy, cartography, civil engineering, geophysics,
crystallography, electrical engineering, electronics, land surveying and geodesy, many
physical sciences, mechanical engineering, machining, medical imaging , number theory,
oceanography, optics, pharmacology, probability theory, seismology, statistics, and visual
perception
That these fields involve trigonometry does not mean knowledge of trigonometry is needed in
order to learn anything about them. It does mean that some things in these fields cannot be
understood without trigonometry.
Various types of equations can be solved using trigonometry.
For example, a linear difference equation or linear differential equation with constant
coefficients has solutions expressed in terms of the eigenvalues of its characteristic equation;
if some of the eigenvalues are complex, the complex terms can be replaced by trigonometric
functions of real terms, showing that the dynamic variable exhibits oscillations.
Similarly, cubic equations with three real solutions have an algebraic solution that is
unhelpful in that it contains cube roots of complex numbers; again an alternative solution
exists in terms of trigonometric functions of real terms.