# 8.1 Non-right triangles: law of sines  (Page 4/10)

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Thus,

$\text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}\left(\text{base}\right)\left(\text{height}\right)=\frac{1}{2}b\left(c\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\alpha \right)$

Similarly,

$\text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}a\left(b\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\gamma \right)=\frac{1}{2}a\left(c\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\beta \right)$

## Area of an oblique triangle

The formula for the area of an oblique triangle is given by

$\begin{array}{l}\text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}bc\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\alpha \hfill \\ \text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}=\frac{1}{2}ac\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\beta \hfill \\ \text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}=\frac{1}{2}ab\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\gamma \hfill \end{array}$

This is equivalent to one-half of the product of two sides and the sine of their included angle.

## Finding the area of an oblique triangle

Find the area of a triangle with sides $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}a=90,b=52,\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ and angle $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\gamma =102°.\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ Round the area to the nearest integer.

Using the formula, we have

$\begin{array}{l}\text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}ab\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\gamma \hfill \\ \text{Area}=\frac{1}{2}\left(90\right)\left(52\right)\mathrm{sin}\left(102°\right)\hfill \\ \text{Area}\approx 2289\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{square}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{units}\hfill \end{array}$

Find the area of the triangle given $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\beta =42°,\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}a=7.2\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{ft},\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}c=3.4\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{ft}.\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ Round the area to the nearest tenth.

about $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}8.2\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{square}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\text{feet}$

## Solving applied problems using the law of sines

The more we study trigonometric applications, the more we discover that the applications are countless. Some are flat, diagram-type situations, but many applications in calculus, engineering, and physics involve three dimensions and motion.

## Finding an altitude

Find the altitude of the aircraft in the problem introduced at the beginning of this section, shown in [link] . Round the altitude to the nearest tenth of a mile.

To find the elevation of the aircraft, we first find the distance from one station to the aircraft, such as the side $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}a,$ and then use right triangle relationships to find the height of the aircraft, $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}h.$

Because the angles in the triangle add up to 180 degrees, the unknown angle must be 180°−15°−35°=130°. This angle is opposite the side of length 20, allowing us to set up a Law of Sines relationship.

The distance from one station to the aircraft is about 14.98 miles.

Now that we know $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}a,\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ we can use right triangle relationships to solve for $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}h.$

The aircraft is at an altitude of approximately 3.9 miles.

The diagram shown in [link] represents the height of a blimp flying over a football stadium. Find the height of the blimp if the angle of elevation at the southern end zone, point A, is 70°, the angle of elevation from the northern end zone, point $\text{\hspace{0.17em}}B,\text{\hspace{0.17em}}$ is 62°, and the distance between the viewing points of the two end zones is 145 yards.

161.9 yd.

Access these online resources for additional instruction and practice with trigonometric applications.

## Key equations

 Law of Sines $\begin{array}{l}\frac{\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\alpha }{a}=\frac{\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\beta }{b}=\frac{\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\gamma }{c}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\hfill \\ \frac{a}{\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\alpha }=\frac{b}{\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\beta }=\frac{c}{\mathrm{sin}\text{\hspace{0.17em}}\gamma }\hfill \end{array}$ Area for oblique triangles

## Key concepts

• The Law of Sines can be used to solve oblique triangles, which are non-right triangles.
• According to the Law of Sines, the ratio of the measurement of one of the angles to the length of its opposite side equals the other two ratios of angle measure to opposite side.
• There are three possible cases: ASA, AAS, SSA. Depending on the information given, we can choose the appropriate equation to find the requested solution. See [link] .
• The ambiguous case arises when an oblique triangle can have different outcomes.
• There are three possible cases that arise from SSA arrangement—a single solution, two possible solutions, and no solution. See [link] and [link] .
• The Law of Sines can be used to solve triangles with given criteria. See [link] .
• The general area formula for triangles translates to oblique triangles by first finding the appropriate height value. See [link] .
• There are many trigonometric applications. They can often be solved by first drawing a diagram of the given information and then using the appropriate equation. See [link] .

what is f(x)=
I don't understand
Joe
Typically a function 'f' will take 'x' as input, and produce 'y' as output. As 'f(x)=y'. According to Google, "The range of a function is the complete set of all possible resulting values of the dependent variable (y, usually), after we have substituted the domain."
Thomas
Sorry, I don't know where the "Â"s came from. They shouldn't be there. Just ignore them. :-)
Thomas
Darius
Thanks.
Thomas
Â
Thomas
It is the Â that should not be there. It doesn't seem to show if encloses in quotation marks. "Â" or 'Â' ... Â
Thomas
Now it shows, go figure?
Thomas
what is this?
i do not understand anything
unknown
lol...it gets better
Darius
I've been struggling so much through all of this. my final is in four weeks 😭
Tiffany
this book is an excellent resource! have you guys ever looked at the online tutoring? there's one that is called "That Tutor Guy" and he goes over a lot of the concepts
Darius
thank you I have heard of him. I should check him out.
Tiffany
is there any question in particular?
Joe
I have always struggled with math. I get lost really easy, if you have any advice for that, it would help tremendously.
Tiffany
Sure, are you in high school or college?
Darius
Hi, apologies for the delayed response. I'm in college.
Tiffany
how to solve polynomial using a calculator
So a horizontal compression by factor of 1/2 is the same as a horizontal stretch by a factor of 2, right?
The center is at (3,4) a focus is at (3,-1), and the lenght of the major axis is 26
The center is at (3,4) a focus is at (3,-1) and the lenght of the major axis is 26 what will be the answer?
Rima
I done know
Joe
What kind of answer is that😑?
Rima
I had just woken up when i got this message
Joe
Rima
i have a question.
Abdul
how do you find the real and complex roots of a polynomial?
Abdul
@abdul with delta maybe which is b(square)-4ac=result then the 1st root -b-radical delta over 2a and the 2nd root -b+radical delta over 2a. I am not sure if this was your question but check it up
Nare
This is the actual question: Find all roots(real and complex) of the polynomial f(x)=6x^3 + x^2 - 4x + 1
Abdul
@Nare please let me know if you can solve it.
Abdul
I have a question
juweeriya
hello guys I'm new here? will you happy with me
mustapha
The average annual population increase of a pack of wolves is 25.
how do you find the period of a sine graph
Period =2π if there is a coefficient (b), just divide the coefficient by 2π to get the new period
Am
if not then how would I find it from a graph
Imani
by looking at the graph, find the distance between two consecutive maximum points (the highest points of the wave). so if the top of one wave is at point A (1,2) and the next top of the wave is at point B (6,2), then the period is 5, the difference of the x-coordinates.
Am
you could also do it with two consecutive minimum points or x-intercepts
Am
I will try that thank u
Imani
Case of Equilateral Hyperbola
ok
Zander
ok
Shella
f(x)=4x+2, find f(3)
Benetta
f(3)=4(3)+2 f(3)=14
lamoussa
14
Vedant
pre calc teacher: "Plug in Plug in...smell's good" f(x)=14
Devante
8x=40
Chris
Explain why log a x is not defined for a < 0
the sum of any two linear polynomial is what
Momo
how can are find the domain and range of a relations
the range is twice of the natural number which is the domain
Morolake
A cell phone company offers two plans for minutes. Plan A: $15 per month and$2 for every 300 texts. Plan B: $25 per month and$0.50 for every 100 texts. How many texts would you need to send per month for plan B to save you money?
6000
Robert
more than 6000
Robert
For Plan A to reach $27/month to surpass Plan B's$26.50 monthly payment, you'll need 3,000 texts which will cost an additional \$10.00. So, for the amount of texts you need to send would need to range between 1-100 texts for the 100th increment, times that by 3 for the additional amount of texts...
Gilbert
...for one text payment for 300 for Plan A. So, that means Plan A; in my opinion is for people with text messaging abilities that their fingers burn the monitor for the cell phone. While Plan B would be for loners that doesn't need their fingers to due the talking; but those texts mean more then...
Gilbert
can I see the picture
How would you find if a radical function is one to one?