Trigonometry

12-Sep-19
 Instant Trig
 Trigonometry is math, so many people find it scary
 It’s usually taught in a one-semester high-school course
 However, 95% of all the “trig” you’ll ever need to know
can be covered in 15 minutes
 And that’s what we’re going to do now
 Angles add to 180°
 The angles of a triangle always add up to 180°

20°
44°

30°
68° 68° 120°

20°
44°
30°
68°
+ 130°
+ 68°
180°
180°
 Right triangles
 We only care about right triangles
 A right triangle is one in which one of the angles is 90°
 Here’s a right triangle:
Here’s the angle
we are looking at
Here’s the
opposite

right angle

adjacent

 We call the longest side the hypotenuse

 We pick one of the other angles--not the right angle
 We name the other two sides relative to that angle
 The Pythagorean Theorem
 If you square the length of the
two shorter sides and add
them, you get the square of the
length of the hypotenuse

 adj2 + opp2 = hyp2

 32 + 42 = 52, or 9 + 16 = 25

 hyp = sqrt(adj2 + opp2)

 5 = sqrt(9 + 16)
 5-12-13
 There are few triangles with
integer sides that satisfy the
Pythagorean formula
 3-4-5 and its
multiples (6-8-10, etc.) opp
are the best known adj
 5-12-13 and its multiples
form another set

 25 + 144 = 169
 Ratios
 Since a triangle has three

opposite
sides, there are six ways to
divide the lengths of the sides
 Each of these six ratios has a adjacent
name (and an abbreviation)
 Three ratios are most used:  The ratios depend on the
 sine = sin = opp / hyp shape of the triangle (the
 cosine = cos = adj / hyp angles) but not on the size
 tangent = tan = opp / adj
opposite
 The other three ratios are
redundant with these and can
adjacent
be ignored
 Using the ratios
 With these functions, if you know an angle (in addition to the
right angle) and the length of a side, you can compute all other
angles and lengths of sides

opposite
adjacent

 If you know the angle marked in red (call it A) and you know
the length of the adjacent side, then
 tan A = opp / adj, so length of opposite side is given by
opp = adj * tan A
 cos A = adj / hyp, so length of hypotenuse is given by
hyp = adj / cos A
 Java methods in java.lang.Math
 public static double sin(double a)
 If a is zero, the result is zero
 public static double cos(double a)
 public static double sin(double a)
 If a is zero, the result is zero

 However: The angle a must be measured in radians

 Fortunately, Java has these additional methods:
 public static double toRadians(double degrees)
 public static double toDegrees(double radians)
 The hard part
 If you understood this lecture, you’re in great shape for
doing all kinds of things with basic graphics
 Here’s the part I’ve always found the hardest:
 Memorizing the names of the ratios

sin = opp / hyp

opposite


 cos = adj / hyp

 tan = opp / adj adjacent
 Mnemonics from wikiquote
 The formulas for right-triangle trigonometric functions
are:
 Sine = Opposite / Hypotenuse
 Cosine = Adjacent / Hypotenuse
 Tangent = Opposite / Adjacent
 Mnemonics for those formulas are:
 Some Old Horse Caught Another Horse Taking Oats Away
 Saints On High Can Always Have Tea Or Alcohol
Drawing a “Turtle”

You want to move h units in the

angle  direction, to (x1, y1):

hyp
opp

You are at: (x, y) adj

So you make a right triangle...

And you label it...
And you compute:
x1 = x + adj = x + hyp * (adj/hyp) = x + hyp * cos 
y1 = y - opp = y - hyp * (opp/hyp) = y - hyp * sin 
This is the first point in your “Turtle” triangle
Find the other points similarly...
The End