Posts Tagged ‘cosine’
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
How to Calculate the Angle of Depression
Description
A detailed tutorial on calculating the angle of depression. Step by step tutorial including several examples of the angle of depression for reference.
Overview
The angle of depression is the angle at which a person must be looking in order to see an object that is lower than the observer. Typically, the angle of elevation is a term used in trigonometry, when calculating angles of a right triangle. In a right triangle, the angle of elevation is the angle between the hypotenuse and the base, when the base of the triangle is actually located at the top of the figure. It can be calculated by using SOHCAHTOA and solving for the sine, cosine, or tangent.
Tags: angle, calculate, cosine, depression, horizontal, line, lower, object, point, right, sine, SOHCAHTOA, tangent, triangle, trig, trigonometry
Posted in Trigonometry | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
How to Calculate the Angle of Elevation
Description
A detailed tutorial on how to calculate the angle of elevation. Step by step tutorial including several examples of the angle of elevation for reference.
Overview
The angle of elevation is the angle at which a person must be looking in order to see an object that is higer than the observer. Typically, the angle of elevation is a term used in trigonometry, when calculating angles of a right triangle. In a right triangle, the angle of elevation is the angle between the hypotenuse and the base. It can be calculated by using SOHCAHTOA and solving for the sine, cosine, or tangent.
Tags: angle, calculate, cosine, elevation, higher, horizontal, line, object, point, right, sine, SOHCAHTOA, tangent, triangle, trig, trigonometry
Posted in Trigonometry | No Comments »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Overview of Vector Transformations
Description
A detailed tutorial of vector transformations. Step by step tutorial including several examples of vector transformations for reference.
Overview
Vector transformations are not as difficult as one mught think – they are done just like ordinary transformations, except in terms of vectors. Rotation is one of the main types of vector transformations, and is the most common one that is done. In order for a vector to be properly transformed, they must satisfy the orthogonality condition.
Tags: algebra, angle, common, condition, cosine, degrees, linear, orthogonality, properly, ray, rotation, solution, tranformations, vector
Posted in Algebra | No Comments »
Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Defining the Angles Between Vectors
Description
A detailed tutorial on how to define the angles between vectors. Step by step tutorial including several examples of angles between vectors for reference.
Overview
In general, it is easier to find the angle between 2D vectors, rather than 3D vectors. In order to define the angles between vectors, we need to use the dot product in conjunction with a few other functions. The angles between vectors can be expressed as angle = arccos(v1xv2), where v1xv2 is how the dot product is expressed.
Tags: 2D, 3D, absolute, algebra, angle, arccos, conjunction, cosine, define, degrees, dot, function, linear, magnitude, product, radians, value, vector
Posted in Algebra | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
How to Find the Opposite and Adjacent Sides of a Triangle
Description
A detailed tutorial on how to find the opposite and adjacent sides of a triangle. Step by step tutorial including several examples of finding the opposite and adjacent sides of a triangle for reference.
Overview
When using SOHCAHTOA, you will often see something such as “find the opposite side” or “find the adjacent side.” Unlike the hypotenuse, the opposite and adjacent sides change depending on what angle you are working with. The right angle is found opposite the hypotenuse and you will never be working it. Tip your triangle so that your right angle is balanced across the bottom and left, and your hypotenuse crosses the right. You will be working with the angles on the top and on the bottom right. The adjacent side is one of the sides that forms your angle – one of which is the hypotenuse, so it is the other side. And to find the opposite side, draw a straight line from your angle. The line it crosses should be the one directly across from your angle, and it is the opposite side.
Tags: adjacent, angle, cosine, hypotenuse, opposite, pythagorean theorem, side, sine, SOHCAHTOA, tangent, trig, trigonometry
Posted in Trigonometry | No Comments »
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Overview of the Dot Product
Description
A detailed tutorial of the dot product. Step by step tutorial including several examples of the dot product of a vector for reference.
Overview
The dot product of two vectors always ends up being a scalar. In mathematical terms, this is ![<span style="font-size: x-small;">\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}=\left\|\mathbf{a}\right\|\left\|\mathbf{b}\right\|\cos\theta[</span>/latex]. In this case, theta is the measure of the angle between a and b. The definition of a dot product given geometrically is that a and b have a common starting point and that the length of a is multiplied by the component in b that points in the same direction as a. Algebraically, it can be said that [latex]<span style="font-size: x-small;">\mathbf{a} \cdot \mathbf{b} = a_1 b_1 + a_2 b_2 + a_3 b_3.</span>](http://s.wordpress.com/latex.php?latex=%3Cspan%20style%3D%22font-size%3A%20x-small%3B%22%3E%5Cmathbf%7Ba%7D%5Ccdot%5Cmathbf%7Bb%7D%3D%5Cleft%5C%7C%5Cmathbf%7Ba%7D%5Cright%5C%7C%5Cleft%5C%7C%5Cmathbf%7Bb%7D%5Cright%5C%7C%5Ccos%5Ctheta%5B%3C%2Fspan%3E%2Flatex%5D.%20In%20this%20case%2C%20theta%20is%20the%20measure%20of%20the%20angle%20between%20a%20and%20b.%20The%20definition%20of%20a%20dot%20product%20given%20geometrically%20is%20that%20a%20and%20b%20have%20a%20common%20starting%20point%20and%20that%20the%20length%20of%20a%20is%20multiplied%20by%20the%20component%20in%20b%20that%20points%20in%20the%20same%20direction%20as%20a.%20Algebraically%2C%20it%20can%20be%20said%20that%20%5Blatex%5D%3Cspan%20style%3D%22font-size%3A%20x-small%3B%22%3E%5Cmathbf%7Ba%7D%20%5Ccdot%20%5Cmathbf%7Bb%7D%20%3D%20a_1%20b_1%20%2B%20a_2%20b_2%20%2B%20a_3%20b_3.%3C%2Fspan%3E&bg=ffffff&fg=000000&s=0 "<span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">\mathbf{a}\cdot\mathbf{b}=\left\|\mathbf{a}\right\|\left\|\mathbf{b}\right\|\cos\theta[</span>/latex]. In this case, theta is the measure of the angle between a and b. The definition of a dot product given geometrically is that a and b have a common starting point and that the length of a is multiplied by the component in b that points in the same direction as a. Algebraically, it can be said that [latex]<span style=\"font-size: x-small;\">\mathbf{a} \cdot \mathbf{b} = a_1 b_1 + a_2 b_2 + a_3 b_3.</span>")
Tags: algebra, algebraically, angle, common, component, cosine, direction, dot, geometrically, initial, inner, length, mulitplied, point, product, scalar, starting, vector
Posted in Algebra | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
How to Graph the Secant Function
Description
A detailed tutorial on solving the graph of the secant function. Step by step tutorial including several examples of how to solve the graph of the secant function for reference.
Overview
The graph of secant is very closely related to the graph of cosecant. The graph appears to be many concave up and concave down curves placed in periods of 2pi. In reality, the local maximums and minimums on the graph of secant match up with the local maximums and minimums on the graph of cosine, making it easy to line them up together. This is because cosine and secant are the opposite of each other - cosine is equal to one over secant.
Tags: amplitude, asymptote, cosecant, cosine, function, graph, intervals, maximum, minimum, period, pi, secant, trigonometric, trigonometry, x, y
Posted in Trigonometry | No Comments »
Friday, October 16th, 2009
How to Find Values of Quadrantal Angles
Description
A detailed tutorial on how to find values of quadrantal angles. Step by step tutorial including several examples of finding values of quadrantal angles for reference.
Overview
Quadrantal angles have a terminal side coinciding with a coordinate axis. A trigonometric functional value of such an angle can be determined by the coordinates of the point where the terminal side intersects the unit circle. When on the unit circle, the Cartesian coordinate (x, y) cooresponds to (cos(&), sin(&)) on the unit circle.
Tags: angle, axis, circle, coordinate, cosine, functional, Geometry, Math, point, quadrantal, sine, terminal, trigonometric, unit, value, x, y
Posted in Geometry | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Plotting Points in the Polar Coordinate System
Description
A detailed tutorial on plotting points in the polar coordinate system. Step by step tutorial including several examples of how to plot points on the polar coordinate system for reference.
Overview
By this point, everyone should know how to plot points on a normal graph. But what about a circular graph? This circular graph is called the polar coordinate system or the polar plane. Instead of using the points (x, y), the polar coordinate system uses the points (r, theta). Theta is a greek letter that looks like a zero with a horizontal line drawn through the center. Most of the points you will be finding for the polar coordinate system will be used with trigonometric functions – sine, cosine, and tangent. Graphing occurs in about the same way as it would on a normal graph – just match up the points, even if they are on a circle.
Tags: Calculus, circle, coordinate, cosine, function, functions, graph, Math, points, polar, r, sine, system, tangent, theta, trig, trigonometric, x, y
Posted in Calculus | No Comments »
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
Identifying the Cofunction
Description
A detailed tutorial on identifying the cofunction. Step by step tutorial including several examples of how to identify the cofunction for reference.
Overview
In math, we say that a function f is a cofunction of a function g if f(A) = g(B), and A and B are complimentary angles. Cofunctions are very often used with trigonometric functions like sine, cosine, and tangent. If you write a function in terms of its cofunction, it can make it easier to solve certain equations.
Tags: angles, cofunction, complimentary, cosecant, cosine, cotangent, function, Math, secant, sine, tangent, trigonometric function, trigonometry
Posted in Trigonometry | No Comments »
