If we had look at the blue triangle here as an example:
Mark44 said:
It doesn't settle the comparison for me. For problems like the one I posed, the Law of Sines is simpler in that you don't need to solve a quadratic equation.
Look at the blue triangle on the right?
lets say we know ##a=3, c=5, \theta = 25^{\circ}##
The "Law of Sines" gives quite simply:
$$\frac{\sin(25^{\circ})}{3} = \frac{\sin \beta}{5} $$
$$\implies \sin \beta = \frac{5}{3}\sin(25^{\circ}) \approx 45^{\circ} $$
It gives you the corresponding angle in the red triangle!
A single solution???, Where is the other one (the blue triangle)...What if it was the one we are after? We don't even have an inkling it exists using the "Law of Sines"...
However, the "Law of Cosines" slaps you in the face and says " he buddy- wake up, just to let you know there are two solutions for this particular set of parameters and here they are, What's that? oh you want to vary the parameters...now there is just one again...you've gone to far - now there is none"
As we saw in the OP the "Law of Sines" says "hey here a solution, its wrong because none of the angles are what you required...but, if we just pretend that isn't concerning...the angle is the compliment of the angle you are searching for..."
Mark44 said:
With regard to your Desmos plot, what is the significance of the first line -- ##y = 10^{125}(q - 15)##?
It’s a creative way to plot a ( very approximately) vertical line that I can shift around to get the solution at the angle. The program does the computation of the intersection point for you.
Mark44 said:
Also, what are lines 6 and 7 -- (15, 4.49...) and (15, 14.82...)? As far as I can tell, they have nothing to do with the question I asked.
They are the triangles that I tested would have two solutions, after I fixed the algebra.
EDIT: I see what you are saying about the points not corresponding to what you said. It wont make a difference to the argument. If you want to check it, just shift the vertical line over to 30. If you hover around the point of intersection it will pop up. in the right corner of the pop up you can add it to the plot. There is going to be two triangles just like in post 53 for your parameters when the angle is 30 deg.