TRIGONOMETRY REVIEW
pYTHAGORAS' THEOREM
Pythagoras' Theorem Relates the sides of a right angled triangle to each other. If you know the length of the two shorter sides a and b, then you can calculate the length of the longer side (the hypotenuse) according to the formula
Let's look at an example with two short sides measuring 3cm and 4cm. It doesn't matter which way round you add a and b but we will make a = 3 and b = 4. The situation looks like this:
Now substitute the values of 3 and 4 into the formula and solve for C like in below:
We can speed things up a bit by using the calculator. Use the Square root function and enclose the values of a and b in brackets :
Sometimes we need to work out the length of a short side if we are given the long side (hypotenuse) and the other short side. Using the same numbers above let's work out the length of the vertical short side if we know the hypotenuse is 5cm and the horizontal short side is 4cm.
Notice how the formula has been rearranged so you can enter the values into the calculator straight up. You have to show working out to get any credit.
Homework Activity. They say the angles are 90 degrees because they didn't use the little squares in the corners - just in case you were wondering. Numbers 8,9 and 10 are a little more challenging.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE ACTIVITY AND ANSWERS HERE
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