Breaking Down Degrees: Is It Important?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around the importance of understanding how degrees are divided into minutes and seconds, particularly in the context of trigonometry. The original poster questions the relevance of this concept and its application in solving more complex trigonometric problems.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the significance of degrees, minutes, and seconds in practical applications like navigation and surveying. Some express uncertainty about radians and their relationship to degrees. Others inquire about the depth and quality of different trigonometry textbooks.

Discussion Status

The conversation is ongoing, with participants sharing insights about the relevance of the topic and recommending resources for further study. There is a mix of familiarity and curiosity regarding radians and the foundational concepts of trigonometry.

Contextual Notes

Some participants mention specific textbooks and their perceived depth, indicating a variety of learning resources available for trigonometry. There is also a suggestion that understanding the division of degrees may be crucial for certain applications, though this is not universally agreed upon.

Miike012
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Homework Statement


The first chapter is talking about how they brake up a degree into minutes and minutes into seconds...
Is this concept important to understand. And how will it help me with other harder trig problems?


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution

 
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Hi Miike012! :smile:
Miike012 said:
The first chapter is talking about how they brake up a degree into minutes and minutes into seconds...
Is this concept important to understand. And how will it help me with other harder trig problems?

It doesn't matter at all, except for surveying or navigation on the Earth's surface, or for measuring the positions of stars …

in most cases, we just use degrees or radians (perhaps you haven't done radians yet? :wink:) to the required number of decimal places.

But that won't help you if you're trying to navigate with a map marked in minutes and seconds, so yes you'd better understand it! :biggrin:​
 
Havnt looked at it yet... but ill be on radians in the next two pages lol.. what is a radian?
 
If you don't understand it, then it is important that you learn it. If you already know and understand the concepts then it should be a piece of cake.

Now, what is your question?
 
Miike012 said:
Havnt looked at it yet... but ill be on radians in the next two pages lol.. what is a radian?

Ah … telling you that would spoil the surprise! :wink:
Integral said:
… it should be a piece of cake.

An angle is a piece of cake! :smile:​
 
Well I guess I will just have to read and find out...

The book that I am reading from is called plane trig by s.l. loney...
I heard this book was a good book?
But what makes it better than another book? Does it go more indepth, or have more theorems?
 
If you really want to go in depth with trig i would recommend Gelfand's trigonometry once you get the basics down
 
Thank you... Do you know of a good indepth alg book...?
 

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