Why Bother Solving Triangles?

A number of High School students can absolutely relate to the title of this blog post. Many students do not really understand the significance of solving triangles in their lives. What most students are sure of is that they just need to know how to compute angles and missing sides of triangle for them to pass their Trigonometry subjects. Nobody can deny that this is the reality for most High School students. Why would they even bother knowing the importance of solving triangles?

Many people are really clueless of the importance of solving triangles in their lives. They think that Trigonometry is merely a subject in High School that one needs to pass in order to get an easy pass to a college education. We must realize that we are solving triangles on a daily basis. The mere fact that we bother looking at the perfect angle when we hang our flat screen television or when we are arranging our furniture already imply, in a subtle way, that we do value solving triangles.

One of the important factors in Trigonometry is Solving Triangles. A triangle has three sides. In addition to that, it has three angles. When one is solving a triangle, one is actually looking for the missing angle or side. Most of the time, only few parts of the six parts (three sides, three angles) are given.

One of the most used method or formula in solving triangles is the Pythagorean Theorem. It is useful in solving a right triangle whose two sides are given but its hypotenuse is unknown. It is also being used in finding the sides of a triangle.

When one is asked to for the missing angles in a triangle, one should be using the Sine, Cosine and Tangent functions. This can also be done using a calculator. The most likely formulas commonly used for the Sine function are the following:

sin A = a⁄(c ) As well as sin B =b⁄c

As for Cosine functions, they are:

cos A = b/c As well as cos B = a/c

And for the Tangent functions:

tan A = a/b As well as tan B = b/a

The above formulas are used in finding the missing angles of Right triangles. 

Something About Trigonometry

Developing a special liking for Mathematics can be very challenging to any Grade School or High School student. This is the main reason why various interests in Mathematics must be introduced on the early academic years of a student. When the basic concepts and uses of Mathematics are explained and instilled to a child, there will be an easier appreciation for this subject.

A lot of High School students can definitely relate to GLEE as compared to Trigonometry. I believe this was due to the fact that GLEE's created to provide entertainment. On the other hand, anything related to Mathematics has been perceived as boring. More students would still prefer to be branded as GLEEkazoids than GEEKazoids. 

It is about time that misconceptions about Mathematics should be changed for good. Any High School student must only have a basic concept of Trigonometry's history. This is to ensure that they know its origins. They do not have to go deeper unless they have plans of becoming Mathematicians or Historians.

Trigonometry is a branch of Mathematics that deals with the study of triangles and the relationship between their sides and the angles between sides.The Egyptians and Babylonians studied the ratios of the sides of similar triangles and found out some properties of those ratios. It was the Greeks who developed Trigonometry as an ordered science. 

Nowadays, a lot of people do not realize that they are witnessing and actually using the concepts of Trigonometry. It is mainly utilized in geography, navigation, electronics, astronomy, wave phenomena,  music theory, acoustics, optics, analysis of financial markets, electronics, probability theory, statistics, biology, medical imaging (CAT scans and ultrasound), pharmacy, chemistry, number theory , seismology, meteorology, oceanography, many physical sciences, land surveying and geodesy, architecture, phonetics, economics, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, computer graphics, cartography, crystallography and game development.