TRIGONOMETRY PROJECT JOSH LACKS

WHAT IS TRIGONOMETRY? Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that deals with the relations of the sides of angles of triangles and with the relevant functions of any angles.

WHERE/WHEN DID TRIGONOMETRY ORIGINATE? Trigonometry originated from the ancient Egyptian and Babylonian times as a way to work with triangles. The Greek mathematician Menelaus; in about 100 AD.; Had the earliest known work on spherical trigonometry. Trigonometry did not necessarily start off with triangles.

WHO WHERE SOME OF THE MAIN PEOPLE INVOLVED WITH TRIGONOMETRY? Menelaus was considered the first with spherical trig. Ptolemy was another author of a book of chords. Aryabhata; in 500; gave tables of halg chords which are sine tables. Brahmagupta (in 682) he reproduced Aryabhata’s work. A detailed method for constructing a table of sines for any angle were given by Bhaskara. Menelaus's TheoremPtolemy’s Theorem

WHAT ARE THE THREE MOST USED TRIGONOMETRY FUNCTIONS AND THERE RATIOS? Sine = Opposite/Hypotenuse Cosine = Adjacent/Hypotenuse Tangent = Opposite/Adjacent

WHAT ARE THE OTHER THREE FUNCTIONS AND THEIR RATIOS? Cotangent = Adjacent/Opposite Secant = Hypotenuse/Adjacent Cosecant = Hypotenuse/Opposite

APPLICATIONS/SCENARIOS Planes need to use trigonometry when they fly over mountains because they need to know how tall and how big the mountains are. Architecture has a lot to do with trigonometry. For instance, when the French we’re designing the Eiffel Tower, they needed to know the angle of the 4 sides to know how it will even out. Astronauts use trigonometry to calculate the distance between the moon and the earth to know how much fuel to put into the spaceship. The necessary amount could be crucial to the way that it was life or death. Cosine function is used to program electromagnetic waves. So it is used every time you use the radio.

ONLINE TRIG APPLICATIONS This is a great website for learning the fundamentals of trigonometry. It has multiple videos and great learning tips.

WHAT DOES A TRIG JOB LOOK LIKE? Isaac Dail did an internship this summer at a mineral excavating in Texas. His job required him to use all sorts of math including trig to mine out the important minerals in the ground. He used trig on a daily basis. ‘Other math also come in handy, such as calculus and regular geometry” says Issac about the job in Texas.

UNIT CIRCLE? HOW? WHY? CIRLES-TRIANGLES? A unit circle is a circle with a radius of 1. The circle can play a big role in trigonometry as there can be triangles that have different areas made out of the circle itself. Circles have 360 degrees, triangles have 180 degrees.

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