KMA002 - Applied

Mathematics Foundation
Geometry & Trigonometry

Overview of the lecture

-

Angles
Geometry revision
Trigonometric Definitions
Pythagoras Theorem
Exact values
Applications
2

Angles
An angle is the figure formed by two rays that share
a common end point
Angles are commonly expressed in degrees and in
radians.
There are 360 degrees (360) in a circle
There are 2 radians (2 rads) in a circle
To converting between degrees and radians we use
the fact that 2 rads = 360

Angles
It follows from the previous point that 180 =  rads.
Therefore 1 rad = 180/ and 1 = /180.

Example 1
i.

Convert 30 to radians:

ii.

Convert 3 rads to degrees:

4

90

180 

0 2

270

3
2

Angles

Geometry revision
You should be familiar with the following angle
facts of geometry:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Complementary angles add up to .

Supplementary angles add up to .
The sum of angles forming a straight line is .
The sum of angles which meet at a point is .

v+u=180

a+b+c=360

Geometry revision
5. If two parallel lines are cut by a transversal then:
a.  =  (  = )
 and  (or  and ) are known as alternate angles;

b.  = 
 and  are known as corresponding angles;

c.  = 
 and  are known as vertically opposite angles;

d.  +  = 180
 and  are known as allied (or co-interior) angles;

Exercise 2
Lines # and $ are parallel. What is the size of
angle ?

Geometry revision triangle

A triangle is a 3-sided polygon. Every triangle has
three sides and three angles.
It is common to label the vertices of a triangle in
counterclockwise order as %, ', (.
The vertex angles are then given the same symbols as
the vertices themselves.
The sides opposite the angles %, ' and ( are then
labeled ), * and #, with these symbols also indicating
(
the lengths of the sides.
*

'

Geometry revision - triangle

1. Isosceles triangle

2. Equilateral triangle

3. Scalene triangle

4. Acute-angled triangle

5. Right-angled triangle

6. Obtuse-angled triangle

Sum of all interior angles of a triangle is 180.

Right Angle Triangle

The right angle triangle has one angle of 90,
and the other two angles are
complementary (they add to 90)
'

The side opposite

the 90 is called
the hypotenuse.

#
)

Geometry revision triangle

Congruence
Congruent figures have the same size and
the same shape:
the corresponding sides and angles of
congruent figures are equal.
They are exact duplicates of each other.
One could be fitted over the other so that their
corresponding parts coincide.

Principles of Congruent Triangles:

1. The side-side-side (SSS)

All corresponding sides are equal.

2. The side-angle-side (SAS)

Two pairs of corresponding sides and the angle between

them are equal.

3. The angle-side-angle (ASA)

Two pairs of corresponding angles and a pair of

corresponding sides are equal.

4. The right angled-hypotenuse-side (RHS)

The hypotenuses and one pair of corresponding sides of

two right angled triangles are equal.

Similar triangles
Similar figures have the same shape (but not
necessarily the same size).
Similar triangles can be applied to solve real
world problems. For example, similar triangles
can be used to find the height of a building, the
width of a river, the height of a tree etc.
In similar figures:
Corresponding sides are in the same ratio.
Corresponding angles are equal.

Exercise 3
A 50 cent coin has 12 sides of equal length. Two
50 cent coins are balanced next to each other on
a table so that they meet along one edge, as
shown below.
The angle , is
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

12
30
36
60
72

Exercise 4.
'
.

Consider a right-angled
triangle %'(.
We construct a line starting
at (, which cuts side # at
90 angle.
Well mark the intercept of
the line we just constructed
and the side ( with letter ..

Show that the three triangles, ABC, ACD and ABD are
similar triangles.

 Let us call side %. = $ and '. = :

Since triangles %'( and %(. are similar triangles, their sides will
have the same ratio:
'
%( %'
=
%. %(
:

which is

or
(*)
Similarly, %'(~'(., so

)
$

/
1
=
0
/
*  = #$

which is
or

45
74
=
46
45
8
1
=
9
8


) = #:

Now adding (*) and (**), we obtain

) + *  = #$ + #: = # $ + : = # # = # 

(**)

Pythagoras Theorem
This is the famous Pythagoras Theorem:
The square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of
the squares of the other two sides.
2

c = a +b

where # is the length of the hypotenuse and ) and *

are the lengths of the other two sides.
Pythagoras Theorem only holds for right angled
triangles.
19

Exercise 5
Show that the triangles ABC and ADE are similar
and find value of .

Trigonometric Ratios
Consider the right-angled triangles below. The
sides of the triangle are named in relation to the
angle .
All of the triangles show
are similar triangles, so
for all of them, the
following rations will be
the same:
<<=>?:/)$@)#:A?
)$@)#:A?/B<?:A=:
<<=>?:/B<?:A=:
21

Trigonometric Ratios
SOHCAHTOA
We can relate these ratios to the angle C:
<<=>?:
sin C =
B<?B:A=:
)$@)#:A?
cos C =
B<?B:A=:
<<=>?:
tan C =
)$@)#:A?

Note that these are ratios of two lengths and are

dimensionless. No matter what unit you measure the
sides in (I,#I,II, >A#B, etc.), their ratios have no unit.
22

Trigonometric Identities
Notice that:

tan C =

JKKJLMN9
80O819PN

JKKJLMN9
_`KJN_9PaL9

QRRQSTUV
WXRQUWVYZSV
[\][^VYU
WXRQUWVYZSV

_`KJN_9PaL9
80O819PN

bcd e
fgb e

tan(C) =
Also,


sin C + cos C =
=


JKKJLMN9
_`KJN_9PaL9

JKKJLMN9 h i80O819PN h
_`KJN_9PaL9 h

sin C + cos C = 1


80O819PN
_`KJN_9PaL9

_`KJN_9PaL9 h
_`KJN_9PaL9 h
23

Exercise 6
Calculate sin C , cos ( C) and tan C for the triangle
below.

24

Exercise 7
Calculate sin C , cos(C) and tan(C) for the triangle
below.

25

Exact Values
Let us use our knowledge of the right-angled
triangle geometry to determine the exact values of
sine, cosine and tangent for = 30, 45 and 60
cos C sin(C) tan(C)

30
45
60
26

Determining Angles
If we know an angle C, we can use our calculators to
find sin(C), cos(C) and tan(C).
What about the reverse?
If we know the values of sin(C), cos(C) and tan(C)
how do we determine the value of C?
If sin(C) =  then
C = sinjk () = arcsin()
Calculators have these buttons, but you have to
make sure that they are set to the appropriate unit
(degree versus radian)
27

Exercise 8
Determine the angle C for the following
a. sin(C) = 0.6

b. cos ( C) = 0.5

c.

tan(C) = 1.5

28

Exercise 9
Calculate the values of  and C for the following
triangle.

29

Application
The trigonometry and geometry we learnt
today have numerous applications in
mathematics, physics, engineering,
geography, geology, architecture, and so
on. We will look at some examples of
measuring elevation today and bearing in
the next class.

Elevation and depression

Angle of elevation:
is the angle from the
observers eye line up to
the object.
Angle of depression:
is the angle from the
observers eye line down
to the object.

31

Exercise 10
How tall is that tree at Mount Field national park?

To measure the height of a tree in the Mount Field national park, the tourists
are asked to look through a clinometer and align it with the top of the tree.
They can then read the angle from the clinometer and the table helps them
relate it to the height of the tree.
How the table was constructed?
We know that tan C =

_
,
(0MLN8P19 NJ No99)

so B = ($>=?)A#: ? ?::) tan(C)

The height of the tree is then p = B + Bq

p = ($>=?)A#: ? ?::) tan(C) + Bq
angle
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57

height
71.7
74
76.5
79
81.7
84.5
87.5
90.6

B
p

C
$>=?)A#: ? ?::

Bq

p = $>=?)A#: ? ?:: tan C + Bq

Let  = p and  = tan(C)
 = $>=?)A#: ? ?B: ?::  + Bq
This should be a straight line graph, with
=r<: = $>=?)A#: ? ?B: ?:: and  intercept = Bq

(height)
71.7
74
76.5
79
81.7
84.5
87.5
90.6

100
90
80
70
Height [m]

t
u
angle vwx(C)
50
1.19
51
1.23
52
1.28
53
1.33
54
1.38
55
1.43
56
1.48
57
1.54

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.2

1.4

tan(
)

p = 54.3 ?)A( C) + 6.9

1.6

1.8

Exercise 11
Two men looking straight ahead are standing at
the top of a cliff which is 56m high. One of the men
observes a large rock at an angle of depression
25 and the other man observes the base of a tree
at an angle of depression of 16. What is the
distance between the rock and the tree?

35