Cosine/Sine/Tangent Problem Need Help Fast

G

Guest

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Hey I need help on this Cosine/Sine/Tangent Problem...Can't seem to figure it out.

48a85324.jpg


Basically I tried was:

Tan 90 degrees = 13/X


But the tan of 90 degrees seems to be 0, so I think I am kind of screwed.

THANKS!
 
Hello, AirForceOne!

You don't need Trig for this one . . . just Pythagorus.

In the right triangle at the lower-right, we have: hypotenuse = 13, leg = 12.
Hence, the third side is:\(\displaystyle \,a^2\:=\:\,13^2\.-\,12^2\:=\;25\;\;\Rightarrow\;\;a\,=\,5\)

In the middle right triangle, we have: hypotenuse = 5, leg = 3
Hence, the third side is: b2=5232=  16        b=4\displaystyle \,b^2\:=\:5^2\,-\,3^2\:=\;16\;\;\Rightarrow\;\;b\,=\,4

In the last right triangle, we have: hypotenuse = 812\displaystyle 8\frac{1}{2}, leg = 4.
Hence, the third side is: x2=(172)242  =  2254        x=152\displaystyle \,x^2\:=\:\left(\frac{17}{2}\right)^2\,-\,4^2\;=\;\frac{225}{4}\;\;\Rightarrow\;\;x\,=\,\frac{15}{2}
 
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