Finding the lengths of the sides using a given angle

  • Thread starter Thread starter greggory
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Angle
AI Thread Summary
Finding the lengths of all sides of a triangle with only one angle, 51.168821565 degrees, is impossible without additional information, such as the length of at least one side. The law of sines requires two angles and one side to determine the lengths of the remaining sides. The discussion reveals that there are infinitely many triangles that can be formed with just one angle provided. After clarifying that the triangle is a right triangle with a second angle of 90 degrees and a known side length of 25, the problem can be solved. Therefore, additional information is crucial for accurately calculating the side lengths.
greggory
Messages
14
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


Well, here is the problem. Assuming that the shape is a triangle, find the lengths of all sides, given one angle is 51.168821565 degrees using the law of sine.

sin(51.168821565) = 0.785398161...

The Attempt at a Solution


I basically tried using the theorems, such as that all angles will add up to 180 degrees and A+B > C always.

I tried to find the lengths, but couldn't. Help would be appreciated.

EDIT:

I tried this:
d = opposite
h = hypotnues
sin 51.168821565 = d / h
d / h = 0.785398161

Does this mean there are infinite numbers that can fit side lengths?
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
There are infinitely many triangles with only one angle given.
 
Last edited:
greggory said:

Homework Statement


Well, here is the problem. Assuming that the shape is a triangle, find the lengths of all sides, given one angle is 51.168821565 degrees using the law of sine.
This is impossible. As th4450 said, there are an infinite number of different triangles having that angle. Draw the angle choose any point on one ray, any point on the other and connect them.n Go back and reread the problem. You have to be given at least one side.

sin(51.168821565) = 0.785398161...


The Attempt at a Solution


I basically tried using the theorems, such as that all angles will add up to 180 degrees and A+B > C always.

I tried to find the lengths, but couldn't. Help would be appreciated.

EDIT:

I tried this:
d = opposite
h = hypotnues
sin 51.168821565 = d / h
d / h = 0.785398161

Does this mean there are infinite numbers that can fit side lengths?
That formula works only for right triangles. You say that you are to use the "law of sine". Do you know what that is? (Not the definition of sine.) In order to use the "law of sine" to find the length of a side, you must already know two angles and one side.
 
Well, I accidently left out some information. The other angle is 90 degrees, which means that the other angle must be 38.831178435, right? Also, one given side is 25(if I read the problem right this time).
 
I picked up this problem from the Schaum's series book titled "College Mathematics" by Ayres/Schmidt. It is a solved problem in the book. But what surprised me was that the solution to this problem was given in one line without any explanation. I could, therefore, not understand how the given one-line solution was reached. The one-line solution in the book says: The equation is ##x \cos{\omega} +y \sin{\omega} - 5 = 0##, ##\omega## being the parameter. From my side, the only thing I could...
Back
Top