top of page

TRIGONOMETRY
BY MEGAN ULRICHS
SOLVING MISSING ANGLES WITH SOHCAHTOA
-STEP 1: FIND WHICH TWO SIDES WE KNOW – OUT OF OPPOSITE, ADJACENT AND HYPOTENUSE.
-STEP 2: USE SOHCAHTOA TO DECIDE WHICH ONE OF SINE, COSINE OR TANGENT TO USE IN THIS QUESTION.
-STEP 3: FOR SINE CALCULATE OPPOSITE/HYPOTENUSE, FOR COSINE CALCULATE ADJACENT/HYPOTENUSE OR FOR TANGENT CALCULATE OPPOSITE/ADJACENT.
-STEP 4: FIND THE ANGLE FROM YOUR CALCULATOR, USING ONE OF SIN-1, COS-1 OR TAN-1
EXAMPLE:
STEP 1: THE TWO SIDES WE KNOW ARE OPPOSITE (300) AND ADJACENT (400).
STEP 2: SOHCAHTOA TELLS US WE MUST USE TANGENT.
STEP 3: CALCULATE OPPOSITE/ADJACENT = 300/400 = 0.75
STEP 4: FIND THE ANGLE FROM YOUR CALCULATOR USING TAN-1
-TAN X° = OPPOSITE/ADJACENT = 300/400 = 0.75
-TAN-1 OF 0.75 = 36.9° (CORRECT TO 1 DECIMAL PLACE)

FIND THE VALUE OF X:
bottom of page