When do I use the sine law and when do I use the cosinelaw? (math)

[etalns]

HEy all, just been looking at sine and cosine laws right now. I was wondering when I use each, I remember I had it written down before but I cant find that paper for the life of me. Any help is greatly appreciated =)

 

[Orsorum]

What situations are you using the laws for?

In integration, it's best to use the trigonometric laws that simplify the equation as much as possible. Only thing is, that can get really complicated.

 

[AndyHui]

Use SIN when you are looking for the line opposite the angle (you have the adjacent length and hypotenuse length).

Use COS when you are looking for the line adjacent to the angle (you have the opposite length and the hypotenuse length).

Use TAN when you are looking for the hypotenuse (you have the adjacent length and opposite length).

 

[tweakmm]

Some Old Hippy
Caught Another Hippy
Tripping on Acid

Sine()=(opposite/hypotenuse)
Cos()=(adjacent/hypotenuse)
Tan()=(opposite/adjacent)

 

[Whitecloak]

Originally posted by: tweakmm
Some Old Hippy
Caught Another Hippy
Tripping on Acid

Sine()=(opposite/hypotenuse)
Cos()=(adjacent/hypotenuse)
Tan()=(opposite/adjacent)

haha nice mnemonic

 

[iamwiz82]

i find the laws to be very useful in my life. I actually was deciding if it was possible to get my satallite pointed about a tree given the angle and everything. I felt like such a geek computing it out