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Find sides of a triangle with only the hyp and angles? I'm really confused

Find sides of a triangle with only the hyp and angles? I'm really confused-example-1
User Michael Sacket
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1 Answer

9 votes
9 votes

Answer:

x = 10√3

y = 10

Explanation:

Step 1:

x = r·cos(30°)

y = r·sin(30°)

Step 2:

x = 20·√3/2 = 10√3

y = 20·1/2 = 10

However, there is a shortcut. Since there is a hypotenuse, there is a 90° angle. You are given a 30° angle, so the triangle is 30°-60°-90°.

The sides of a 30°-60°-90° triangle are in the ratio 1:√3:2.

The side opposite the 90° angle has length 20, so the side opposite the 30° angle has length 10, and the side opposite the 60° angle has length 10√3.

User Simontuffs
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2.8k points