Trig ratios

[Miike012]

1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data

How does the pythagorean therm. give us sin cos tan and their recipr.? I dont understand how a^2 + b^2 = c^2 give you those ratios?

2. Relevant equations



3. The attempt at a solution

[armolinasf]

The pythagorean theorem will give you the pythagorean identities if you let a=opposite side b=adjacent side, c= hypotenuse. You can derive all the pythagorean identities by dividing by the different sides.

You may want to skim over this http://mathsfirst.massey.ac.nz/Trig/TrigRatio.htm or even better take a look at the khan academy library of videos on trig.

[Miike012]

Thank you.