ALL TRIANGLES

SUPPLEMENTAL PROBLEMS
The triangle shown below has sides labeled a, b, c, and angles labeled A, B, C. The angle and
side which are opposite one another are labeled with the same letter.

The following relationships are true for all triangles.

ab c ac b cb a

A + B + C = 180o
a
b
c

(Law of sines)
sin A sin B sin C

c 2 a 2 b 2 2ab cos C (Law of cosines)

a 2 c 2 b 2 2cb cos A (Law of cosines)
b 2 a 2 c 2 2ac cos B (Law of cosines)

It is interesting (at least to me) to note that if any of the angles are 90 degrees, then the
Law of cosines reduces to the Pythagorean theorem because the cos of 90 degrees is zero. Also
note that the trig and inverse trig functions for right triangles DO NOT work for non-right
triangles.
The side and angle values in each table below are for a particular triangle. Use the
relationships above to solve for the missing side and angle values in each of the following tables.
For each table draw the triangle represented (approximately to scale), and show your work using
the solution method for each missing value.
Triangle 1
Side values
a = 3.0 units
b = 4.0 units
c=

Angle values
A=
B=
C = 60.0 degrees

Triangle 2
Side values
a = 5.0 units
b=
c=

Angle values
A = 30.0 degrees
B=
C = 40.00 degrees