Must See Tool Tip

[mklotz]

Programs like the triangle solver are handy if you have to do it frequently but they're no substitute for knowing what you're doing so you can do it when the program isn't available. If your approach to understanding math is to do your utmost to avoid doing any whenever presented with a problem, you will never understand it.

Every triangle has six pieces of information - three sides and three angles. It's always possible to completely solve the triangle if you know three pieces, one of which must be a side. With a right triangle you get one piece for free, the ninety degree angle, so you only need to know an angle and a side or two sides to completely solve.

A good test of your understanding of trigonometry is to write the solution sequence for every combination of known pieces of a non-right triangle. [Here "solution sequence" means identifying sequential steps that lead to a total solution; each step showing what to solve for and the equation used to solve for it.] No partitions of the original triangle are allowed.

Most amateurs, if they learn any trig at all, seldom get beyond sine and cosine. The suggested exercise will demonstrate why you need to understand the law of sines and the law of cosines.

For folks who don't have a smart phone (yeah, there are a few of us left), there's a triangle solver on my page and one here...

https://www.calculator.net/triangle-calculator.html