Right Triangle Trigonometry With Solutions

Right Triangle Trigonometry
Section 4.3
Objectives
Calculate any trigonometric function for
an angle in a right triangle given two
sides of the triangle.
Calculate the length of the sides of a
right triangle given the measure of an
angle of a triangle.
Solve word problems requiring right
triangles and trigonometric functions.
Vocabulary
angle of elevation
the angle that an observer would raise his or her line of
sight above a horizontal line in order to see an object.
angle of elevation
of depression
angle
If an observer
were UP ABOVE and needed to look down,
the angle of depression would be the angle that the person

would need to lower his or her line of sight.
angle of depression
Trigonometric Functions
The side of the triangle opposite

the right angle is always named
the hypotenuse.
If we label one of the non-right
angles x, then we can name the
legs of the triangle.
The leg that makes up part of the
angle is called the adjacent side.
The leg that is not one of the
sides of the angle is called the
opposite side.
opposite (for angle x)
Each of the sides of a right

triangle can be labeled relative to
one of the non-right angles of the
triangle.
hypotenuse
x
adjacent (for angle x)
If we use the other nonright angle in the triangle

(angle y), then the sides
that are opposite and
adjacent change.
The side that is the
hypotenuse never changes.
It is always opposite the
right angle.
adjacent (for angle y)
The names of the sides will

change if we change the
angle.
hypotenuse
opposite (for angle y)
Once we have named

our sides, we can
define each of the
trigonometric
functions as ratios
of the sides of the
triangle.
hypotenuse
x
opposite
hypotenuse
cos(x)
adjacent
hypotenuse
tan(x)
opposite
adjacent
sin(x)
hypotenuse
x
hypotenuse
opposite
sec(x)
hypotenuse
adjacent
cot(x)
adjacent
opposite
csc(x)
hypotenuse
x
For the triangle
Find sin(x)
To find the sin(x), we will
need to length of the side
opposite the angle x and the
length of the hypotenuse.
We have the length of the
opposite side, 3. To find the
length of the hypotenuse,
we can use the Pythagorean
Theorem.
x
5
32 52 c 2
9 25 c 2
34 c 2
34 c
length is positive
34 c
continued on next slide
For the triangle
Now that we have the length of the

hypotenuse, we can answer all of the
questions.
Find sin(x)
opposite
sin(x )
hypotenuse
3
sin(x )
34
34
x
5
For the triangle
Notice that for this question the angle has

changed to angle y. This will change what is
opposite and what is adjacent.
Find cos(y)
adjacent
cos( y )
y
34
hypotenuse
3
cos( y )
34
One thing to note here is that angle y is equal to 90 - x. It is also the

case that x is equal to 90 y. the In general when this happens, we have
the following co-function identities:
sin(x ) cos(90 x )
cos(x ) sin(90 x )
or
x
2
sin(x ) cos
and
or
x
2
cos(x ) sin
For the triangle
Now continuing with the tangent and

cotangent functions.
34
Find tan(x)
opposite
tan(x )
adjacent
3
tan(x )
5
x
5
For the triangle
Now continuing with the tangent and

cotangent functions.
34
Find cot(y)
adjacent
cot(y )
opposite
3
cot(y )
5

tan(x ) cot(90 x )
cot(x ) tan(90 x )
or
x
2
tan(x ) cot
and
or
x
2
cot(x ) tan
For the triangle
Now continuing with the secant and cosecant

functions.
Find sec(x)
hypotenuse
sec( x)
adjacent
34
sec( x)
5
y
34
x
5
For the triangle
Now continuing with the secant and cosecant

functions.
Find sec(x)
hypotenuse
csc( y )
opposite
y
34
x
5
34
csc( y )
5

sec( x) csc(90 x)
csc( x) sec(90 x)
or
sec( x) csc
x
2
and
or

csc( x) sec x
2
Identities
Cofunction Identities
sin(x) = cos(90-x)
cos(x) = sin(90-x)
tan(x) = cot(90-x)
cot(x) = tan(90-x)
sec(x) = csc(90-x)
csc(x) = sec(90-x)
For the triangle below, if BC = 7

and the angle = 60, find all the
missing angles and sides.
C
Lets start by putting the information

that we know into the triangle picture.
60
7

C
Our next step will be to do the

easiest work. I think that the
easiest thing to find next is
the measure of the angle .
Since the measure of the
angles of a triangle add up to
180, we can calculate as
60
7
=180-60-90=30
We can now put this into the
triangle.
30
A

Now we need to find lengths of

sides of the triangle. It does not
matter which side we decide to
find first. Lets find side AB. To
do this we need to use one of the
non-right angles. Either angle will
work. I am going to choose the
60 angle since that was the one
that was given. Side AB is
opposite the 60 angle. The
other side that we know is BC
A
which is adjacent to the 60
angle. We need the trigonometric
function which has both opposite
and adjacent in it. This function
is the tangent function.
60
7
30

We will use the tan(60) to find

side AB.
60
opposite
tan(60 )
adjacent
opposite
tan(60 )
7
7 tan(60 ) opposite
12.12435565 opposite
30
A
12.12435565

Now we are ready to find side AC.
No matter which angle we use,
the side AC is the hypotenuse of
the triangle. You may be tempted
to use the Pythagorean Theorem
here, but I do not recommend it.
If you have made an error or just
rounded the length of the side
that was just found, the
Pythagorean Theorem will produce
an incorrect answer. Since we A
want to use numbers that were
not calculated, but instead given
in the problem, we will use the
60 and the side BC = 7.
60
7
30
12.12435565

The side BC = 7 is adjacent to the
60 angle. The side AC is the
hypotenuse. We need a
trigonometric function which has
both the hypotenuse and the
adjacent sides. This would be the
cosine function.
adjacent
cos(60 )
hypotenuse
7
cos(60 )
A
hypotenuse
(hypotenuse) cos(60 ) 7
7
cos(60 )
hypotenuse 14
hypotenuse
60
14
30
12.12435565
A plane if flying at an elevation of

27000 feet. It is within sight of
the airport and the pilot finds
that the angle of depression to
the airport is 25 degrees. Find
the distance between the plane
and the airport.
A plane if flying at an elevation of 27000 feet. It is

within sight of the airport and the pilot finds that the
angle of depression to the airport is 25 degrees. Find
the distance between the plane and the airport.
For this problem we should draw a picture and label what we know.
angle of elevation = 25
27000 feet
distance from plane to

airport
airport
distance from a point on the
ground directly below the
plane to the airport

In order to use trigonometric functions, we need a non-right angle
inside the triangle. We know that angle and A and the angle of
elevation add together to be 90. Thus we can calculate angle A
as A = 90 - 25 = 65.
A
27000 feet

airport
airport
distance from a point on the
ground directly below the
plane to the airport

Now we can answer the question. For the 65 angle, the side of
length 27000 feet is the adjacent side. The side marked as the
distance from the plane to the airport is the hypotenuse. A
trigonometric function that has both adjacent and hypotenuse is
the cosine function.
adjacent
cos(65)
hypotenuse
cos(65)
27000
hypotenuse
hypotenuse cos(65) 27000

27000
cos(65)
hypotenuse 63887.44275
hypotenuse
65

airport
27000 feet
airport
distance from a point
on the ground directly
below the plane to the
airport
The distance from the plane to the

airport is 63887.44275 feet

Now we will answer the next question. For the 65 angle, the side
of length 27000 feet is the adjacent side. The side marked as
the distance from a point on the ground directly below the plane
to the airport is the opposite side. A trigonometric function that
has both adjacent and opposite is the tangent function.
opposite
tan(65)
adjacent
opposite
tan(65)
27000
27000 * tan(65) opposite
57901.68685 opposite
65

airport
27000 feet
airport
distance from a point
on the ground directly
below the plane to the
airport
The distance from a point on the

ground directly below the plane to the
airport is 57901.68685 feet.
A hot-air balloon is floating above a

straight road. To calculate their height
above the ground, the balloonists
simultaneously measure the angle of
depression to two consecutive mileposts
on the road on the same side of the
balloon. The angles of depression are
found to be 23 degrees and 27 degrees.
How high (in feet) is the balloon?
A hot-air balloon is floating above a straight road. To calculate their height

above the ground, the balloonists simultaneously measure the angle of
depression to two consecutive mileposts on the road on the same side of the
balloon. The angles of depression are found to be 23 degrees and 27
degrees. How high (in feet) is the balloon?
Once again we should draw a picture and label what we know. This
is not drawn to scale.
23
27
1 mile
height of the
balloon
B

The height of the balloon is one of the legs of two different right
triangle. One of the triangles is the red one. For this triangle, we
do not know the length of the hypotenuse or the length of the
other leg. We do however know the length of part of the other
leg.
23
27
1 mile
height of the
balloon
B

The other of the triangles is the blue one. For this triangle, we
do not know the length of the hypotenuse or the length of the
other leg. You should note though that the length of the other
leg is part of the length of the leg of the red right triangle from
the previous screen.
That part that the
two legs have in
common, we can label
as x.
23
27
1 mile
height of the
balloon
B

Now we can work on using a
trigonometric function to
write an equation for the
height of the balloon (we will
label this H). We will need
to know the measure of the
one of the non-right angles.
We will use angle A. Angle A
and the 23 angle add
together to be 90. This
allows us to find A using A =
90 - 23 = 67 .
A
23
1 mile
A
27
H = height of the
balloon
B x

The two sides of the triangle
that we are interested in are
H (adjacent to A) and the
side opposite angle A. A
trigonometric function that
both opposite and adjacent
is the tangent function.
Thus we can set up the
following:
opposite
adjacent
1x A
tan(67)
H
23
A
27
H = height of the
balloon
tan(67)
1 mile
B x

We can now do the same process with the blue right triangle. We
first have to find angle B. Angle B and the 27 angle add up to
90. Thus we can find B with B = 90 - 27 =63 . Now we can set
up the tangent function expression.
opposite
tan(63)
adjacent
x
tan(63)
H
A
23
27
1 mile
H = height of the
B balloon
B x

Now we have two equation with two variables. We can solve these
using substitution. Since we are interested in finding H, we should
solve one equation for x and substitute that into the other
equation.
Solve this for x.
x
tan(63)
H
H tan(63) x
23
27
1 mile
H = height of the
balloon
x
B
Now substitute this expression for x into the other equation.
tan(67 )
1 H tan(63)
H

Finally we solve for H.
1 H tan(63)
tan(67 )
H
H tan(67) 1 H tan(63)
H tan(67) H tan(63) 1
H tan(67) tan(63) 1
1
H
tan(67 ) tan(63)
H 2.542964269
23
27
1 mile
H = height of the
balloon
x
B
Note that this answer is in the same units as those that your single given
distance is in. That distance is miles. We are asked to find the height in
feet. There are 5280 feet in 1 mile. Thus the answer is
2.542964269*5280=13426.85134 feet.
The angle of elevation to the top

of the Empire State Building in
New York is found to be 11
degrees from the ground at a
distance of 1 mile from the base
of the building. Using this
information, find the height of
the Empire State Building.
The angle of elevation to the top of the Empire State Building in New
York is found to be 11 degrees from the ground at a distance of 1 mile
from the base of the building. Using this information, find the height of
Once again we should draw a picture and label what we know. This
is not drawn to scale.
Empire State Building
11
Based on this picture we need

to find the length of the side
opposite the angle of elevation
(11) and we know the length of
the side adjacent to the angle
of elevation. A trigonometric
function that has both the
opposite and adjacent sides is
the tangent function. We can
use this to answer the
question.
1 mile
The angle of elevation to the top of the Empire State Building in New
York is found to be 11 degrees from the ground at a distance of 1 mile
from the base of the building. Using this information, find the height of
opposite
adjacent
B
tan(11)
1
tan(11) B
tan(11)
Empire State Building
B .1943803091
11
1 mile
Note that this answer is in the same

units as those that your single given
distance is in. That distance is miles.
We are asked to find the height in feet.
There are 5280 feet in 1 mile. Thus the
answer is .
1943803091*5280=1026.328032 feet

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Right Triangle Trigonometry

the angle of depression would be the angle that the person

The side of the triangle opposite

opposite (for angle x)

Each of the sides of a right

If we use the other nonright angle in the triangle

adjacent (for angle y)

The names of the sides will

opposite (for angle y)

Once we have named

opposite (for angle x)

opposite (for angle x)

For the triangle

For the triangle

Now that we have the length of the

continued on next slide

For the triangle

Notice that for this question the angle has

One thing to note here is that angle y is equal to 90 - x. It is also the

continued on next slide

For the triangle

Now continuing with the tangent and

continued on next slide

For the triangle

Now continuing with the tangent and

One thing to note here is that angle y is equal to 90 - x. It is also the

continued on next slide

For the triangle

Now continuing with the secant and cosecant

continued on next slide

For the triangle

Now continuing with the secant and cosecant

One thing to note here is that angle y is equal to 90 - x. It is also the

For the triangle below, if BC = 7

Lets start by putting the information

continued on next slide

For the triangle below, if BC = 7

Our next step will be to do the

continued on next slide

For the triangle below, if BC = 7

Now we need to find lengths of

continued on next slide

For the triangle below, if BC = 7

We will use the tan(60) to find

continued on next slide

For the triangle below, if BC = 7

continued on next slide

For the triangle below, if BC = 7

A plane if flying at an elevation of

A plane if flying at an elevation of 27000 feet. It is

distance from plane to

A plane if flying at an elevation of 27000 feet. It is

distance from plane to

continued on next slide

A plane if flying at an elevation of 27000 feet. It is

hypotenuse cos(65) 27000

distance from plane to

The distance from the plane to the

A plane if flying at an elevation of 27000 feet. It is

distance from plane to

The distance from a point on the

A hot-air balloon is floating above a

continued on next slide

A hot-air balloon is floating above a straight road. To calculate their height