Triangulation and the Law of Sines

A triangle has three sides and three angles; their values provide six pieces
of information about the triangle.
In ordinary geometry, most of the time three pieces of information are
Elementary Functions sufficient to give us the other three pieces of information.
Part 5, Trigonometry
Lecture 5.3a, The Laws of Sines and Triangulation In order to more easily discuss the angles and sides of a triangle, we will
label the angles by capital letters (such as A, B, C) and label the sides by
small letters (such as a, b, c.)
Dr. Ken W. Smith
We will assume that a side labeled with a small letter is the side opposite
Sam Houston State University
the angle with the same, but capitalized, letter.
For example, the side a is opposite the angle A.
2013
We will also use these letters for the values or magnitudes of these sides
and angles, writing a = 3 feet or A = 14◦ .

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Three Bits of a Triangle AA and AAA

Suppose we have three bits of information about a triangle. Can we

recover all the information?

AAA
If the 3 bits of information are the magnitudes of the 3 angles, and if we If we know the values of two angles then since the angles sum to π
have no information about lengths of sides, then the answer is No. (= 180◦ ), we really know all 3 angles.
Given a triangle with angles A, B, C (in ordinary Euclidean geometry) we
can always expand (or contract) the triangle to a similar triangle which So AAA is really no better than AA!
has the same angles but whose sides have all been stretched (or shrunk)
by some constant factor. We need to know at least one of the sides.

This “Angle-Angle-Angle” information (AAA) is not enough information

to describe the entire triangle.

However, we will discover that in almost every other situation, we can

recover the entire triangle.

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ASA and AAS The Law of Sines and ASA

Suppose we know two angles and one side. If the known side is between
The law of sines says that give a triangle 4ABC, with lengths of sides
the two angles we abbreviate this ASA.
a, b and c then
If we know two angles and one side, but the known side is not between the sin A sin B sin C
= = (1)
two angles, then we are in the Angle-Angle-Side (AAS) situation and we a b c
can also recover the remaining bits of the triangle.
Why is this true?
We do this using the Law of Sines.

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The Law of Sines The Law of Sines

Start with a triangle with vertices A, B, C h
sin A = b and sin B = ha .
Draw a perpendicular from the vertex C onto the side AB and let D
represent the right angle formed there. Solve for h: h = b sin A and h = a sin B.
If h is the height of the triangle then Since both b sin A and a sin B are equal to h then

h h b sin A = a sin B.
sin A = and sin B = .
b a Dividing both sides by ab we have
sin A sin B
a = b .
A similar argument tells us that
sin A sin C
a = c

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The Law of Sines Two Angles and the Law of Sines

If we know two angles of a triangle, then since the three angles add to
180◦ = π then we can figure out the third angle. As long as we know one
more bit of information, the length of a side, then the law of sines gives us
sin A sin B sin C the length of all sides.
= = (2)
a b c In our abbreviated notation for the known information, this includes the
cases ASA and AAS, that is, the cases in which we know two angles and
an included side or two angles and a side not between them. These cases
are equivalent since, essentially, we know all three angles once we know
two.

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Some Worked Problems. Some Worked Problems.

Use the Law of Sines to solve the following triangles.

A = 62◦ , B = 74◦ , c = 14 feet Solve the triangle A = 60◦ , B = 70◦ , c = 10 feet

Solution. If A = 62◦ , B = 74◦ , c = 14 feet then C = 54◦ . Then, by the Solution. If A = 60◦ , B = 70◦ , c = 10 feet then C = 50◦ since the sum of
law of sines, the angles of a triangle is 180◦ .
By the law of sines,
sin 54◦ sin 62◦ sin 75◦
= = sin 60◦ sin 70◦ sin 50◦
14 a b = = .
so a b 10
14 sin 62◦ 14 sin 75◦ 10 sin 60◦ 10 sin 70◦
a= ≈ 15.28 feet and b = ≈ 16.72 feet. So a = = 11.31 feet and b = = 12.27 feet
sin 54◦ sin 54◦ sin 50◦ sin 50◦

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Law of Sines

Elementary Functions
In the next presentation, we will continue to look at the Law of Sines, Part 5, Trigonometry
investigating the SSA case. Lecture 5.3b, The Laws of Sines and Triangulation

(End) Dr. Ken W. Smith

Sam Houston State University

2013

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The law of sines and SSA Some Worked Problems

Solve the following triangle. (Find all sides and all angles.)
A = 30◦ , a = 6 feet, b = 8 feet
If we know only one angle of a triangle but two sides, sometimes the Law
of Sines is sufficient.
Solution. To solve A = 30◦ , a = 6 feet, b = 8 feet apply the law of sines:
To use the laws of sines, we need one of the sides to be opposite the sin 30◦ sin B sin C
6 = 8 = c
known angle.
This forces
In this case, our information is often abbreviated SSA – we know two 8 sin 30◦ 2
sides and then an angle not between them. sin B = 6 = 3

so B is either sin−1 ( 23 ) ≈ 41.81◦ or B = 180 − 41.81◦ = 138.19◦ .

We do have to be a bit careful here. Just because we know the sine of an
angle does not mean we know the value of the angle! If B = 41.81◦ then C = 108.19◦ . If B = 138.19◦ then C = 11.81◦ .
6 sin C
By the law of sines c = sin 30◦ = 12 sin C.
There could be two angles with the same sine!
If C = 108.19◦ then c = 12 sin 108.19◦ = 11.40
But if C = 11.81◦ then c = 12 sin 11.81◦ = 2.46
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Some Worked Problems Some Worked Problems

Solve the triangle A = 60◦ , a = 10 feet, c = 12 feet

Solutions. If A = 60◦ , a = 10 feet, c = 12 feet then by the law of sines

We solved the triangle A = 30◦ , a = 6 feet, b = 8 feet: sin 60◦ sin C ◦
=
10 12
There are two solutions, two triangles:
So √
A B C a b c 12 sin 60◦ 3 3
◦ ◦ ◦
sin C = = ≈ 1.039 > 1.
30 41.81 108.19 6 8 11.41 10 5
◦
30 138.19 ◦ 11.81◦ 6 8 2.46

There is no angle with sine greater than 1 so there is no solution;

This triangle cannot exist.

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Some Worked Problems Some Worked Problems

Solve the triangle a = 10, b = 6, B = 20◦ .

Solution. Use the Law of Sines to see that A could be either A = 34.75◦
or A = 145.25◦ ,
Solve the triangle b = 12, c = 10, C = 60◦ .
Then C = 125.25◦ or C = 14.75◦ . 12 3√
Solution. By the Law of Sines, sin B = (sin 60◦ ) = 3 ≈ 1.039.
10 5
Finally use the Law of Sines to finish off the problem.
Since the sine of B cannot be greater than one,
There are two answers. Both must be listed. no such triangle is possible.

a = 10, b = 6, c = 14.33, A = 34.75◦ , B = 20◦ , C = 125.25◦ (The length of b is not large enough to “reach” the side a.)
and

a = 10, b = 6, c = 4.47, A = 145.25◦ , B = 20◦ , C = 14.75◦ .

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Some Worked Problems Triangulation

Solve the triangle b = 12, c = 10, C = 45◦ .

Solution. By the Law of Sines either B ≈ 58.06◦ or B ≈ 121.95◦ ,

Then A ≈ 76.95◦ or A ≈ 13.05◦ . One can often measure distance to an object by working out a baseline
and then measuring the angles formed by lines from the distant object to
Finally use the Law of Sines to finish off the problem. the ends of the baseline.

There are two answers. Both must be listed. This technique is called ”triangulation”.

a = 13.78, b = 12, c = 10, A = 76.95◦ , B = 58.45◦ , C = 45◦ , This is a classic case of ASA and is perfect for the law of sines.

and

a = 3.19, b = 12, c = 10, A = 13.05◦ , B = 121.95◦ , C = 45◦

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Triangulation
Suppose that a ship is out in the harbor. Standing at the east end of the
dock, a compass reveals that the ship is at a bearing of 30◦ east of north.
But if one walks 200 yards west of the dock, the ship is now at a bearing
of 40◦ east of north.
How far is the ship from the dock?
Triangulation
Draw an east-west baseline representing the 200 yards and then draw lines
from the ends of the baseline to the ship. We have a triangle in which the
vertex on the west side of the baseline has an (interior) angle of
90◦ − 40◦ = 50◦ . The vertex on the east side of the baseline has an angle
of 90◦ + 30◦ = 120◦ . Call the length of the baseline c = 200, and so we
have angles A = 50◦ and B = 120◦ .

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Triangulation The Law of Sines and Triangulation
Let us use C to represent the angle 10◦ at the vertex of this triangle where
the ship sits. Then the side c is the 200 yard baseline and the angles A
and B are 50◦ and B = 120◦ .
We can solve this problem by the Law of Sines and see that
a = 882, b = 997.45 So the ship is 882 yards from the east end of the dock.
In the next presentation we look at the Law of Cosines

(End)

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