Trigonometry

Sine and Cosine Rules

Aim

To demonstrate how to use the sine and cosine rules.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this section you will be able to:

• Identify when to use the sine and cosine rule,

• Use the sine or cosine rule to solve triangles.

The sine and cosine rules are particularly useful when dealing with triangles that are
not right angled. The basic trigonometric ratios cannot be used with triangles that do
not possess a right angle, so in these cases the cosine rule or the sine rule may be used
to find a missing side or a missing angle.

The Sine Rule

The area of a triangle is 21 (base)(perpendicular height). Given the triangle shown below
where the sides a, b and c are respectively opposite angles A,B and C then the area of
the triangle is given as
1 1 1
bc sin A = ac sin B = ab sin C.
2 2 2

  

 

1
If each expression is then divided by 2
abc then what results is called the sine rule:
sin A sin B sin C
= = .
a b c
It should be stressed that the sine rule can be used on any triangle. The sine rule is
used when we are given either (a) two angles and one side or (b) two sides and an angle
other than the one that lies between the two sides.
1
 Trigonometry
Example 1
In the triangle ABC, A = 30◦ , B = 45◦ and AC = 7cm. Find the length of BC.

AC ≡ b = 7cm. The length that we are looking for, BC is equivalent to to the length
a. Therefore we can use the sine rule as follows,
sin A sin B
= ,
a b
sin 30◦ sin 45◦
= ,
a 7
0.5 0.707106781
= ,
a 7
⇒ 7 × 0.5 = 0.707106781 × a,
⇒ 3.5 = 0.707106781 × a,
3.5
⇒ = a.
0.707106781
Therefore a ≈ 4.95cm.

The Cosine Rule

Consider the triangle below with perpendicular height h.


 

 c-x



From Pythagoras’ theorem

h2 = a2 − x2 , and equivalently
h2 = b2 − (c − x)2 ,
= b2 − c2 + 2cx − x2 .

Therefore
a2 − x2 = b2 − c2 + 2cx − x2 .
Adding x2 to both sides this gives

a2 = b2 − c2 + 2cx,
b2 = a2 + c2 − 2ac cos B.

2
 Trigonometry

This is known as the cosine rule. It is also possible to write

a2 = b2 + c2 − 2bc cos A or
c2 = a2 + b2 − 2ab cos C.

The cosine rule can also be used with any triangle. This rule is used when we are
given either (i) three sides or (ii) two sides and the angle between them.

Example 2
Given the triangle ABC with AB = 6cm, BC = 8cm and AC = 7cm, calculate the
angle B.
Since we are looking for the angle B, we use the version of the cosine rule which
involves cos B, i.e. b2 = a2 + c2 − 2ac cos B. Therefore,

b2 = a2 + c2 − 2ac cos B,
72 = 82 + 62 − 2(8)(6) cos B,
49 − 64 − 36 = −96 cos B,
−51 = −96 cos B,
0.53125 = cos B, take cos−1 of both sides
cos−1 (0.53125) = B.

0
Therefore, B = 57◦ 54 .

Related Reading
Booth, D.J. 1998. Foundation Mathematics. 3rd Edition. Pearson Education Limited.

Croft, A., R. Davison. 2003. Foundation Mathematics. 3rd Edition. Pearson Education
Limited.

Morris, O.D., P. Cooke 1992. Text & Tests 4 The Celtic Press.