Lesson Solution of Right Triangles

1 Using Trigonometric Ratios

What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help you master The
Six Trigonometric Functions. The scope of this module permits it to be used in many different
learning situations. The language used recognizes the diverse vocabulary level of students. The
lessons are arranged to follow the standard sequence of the course. But the order in which you can
read them can be changed to correspond with the textbook you are now using.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. solve missing parts of a right triangle with the use of Trigonometric ratios.

What I know

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on your notebook.

1. In a right triangle ABC, ∠𝐶 = 90°, 𝑎 = 4.8 𝑐𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏 = 3.7 𝑐𝑚, which of the following is the measure of
angle A?
A. 37° 37′ 35" B. 39° 34′ 16" C. 50° 25′ 44" D. 52° 22′ 25"
2. Given in a right triangle XYZ, ∠𝑍 = 90°, 𝑥 = 5.5 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ∠𝑋 = 27°44′, which of the following is the
length of z?
A. 4.87 in B. 6.21 in C. 10.46 in D. 11.82 in
For numbers 3-4 consider the given triangle.

3. What is the length of AC?

A. 11.88 𝑖𝑛 B. 12.80 𝑖𝑛 C. 29.71 in D. 34.46 in

4. What is the measure of angle B?

A. 16° 22′ 14" B. 17°40′43" C. 44° 49′ 7" D. 54°50′ 27"
5. A guy wire from a point 2.3 meters from the top of an electric post makes an angle of 72° with the
ground. If the guy wire is anchored 6.3 meters from the base of the post, how high is the pole?
A. 6.62 m B. 8.62 m C. 19.38 m D. 21. 38 m

What’s In
.
In the preceding modules, we discussed the different trigonometric ratios which were defined
in terms of the sides and the angles of a triangle.

ACTIVITY 1: Determine the values of the given trigonometric functions to the nearest hundredths:

a. sin 20° b. cos 36 ° c. tan 52°

d. csc 42° e. sec 71° f. cot 88°

 What’s New

ACTIVITY 2: In figure 1, solve for the value of x

Figure 1

What is it?
Consider triangle ABC, where,
𝑎 = 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑒𝑔 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝐴 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑒𝑔 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝐵

𝑏 = 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑔 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝐴 𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑒𝑔 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝐴
𝑐 = 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒
𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒
sin 𝐴 = sin B =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝑎 𝑏
sin 𝐴 = sin 𝐵 =
𝑐 𝑐

𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡
cos 𝐴 = cos 𝐵 =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒
𝑏 𝑎
cos 𝐴 = cos 𝐵 =
𝑐 𝑐

𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 Figure 2

tan 𝐴 = tan 𝐵 =
𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡

𝑎 𝑏
tan 𝐴 = tan 𝐵 =
𝑏 𝑎

EXAMPLE 1: Given ∆𝐴𝐵𝐶 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ∠𝐶 = 90°, ∠𝐵 = 28° 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎 = 5 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠, solve for A, b and c.
Figure 3
Solution: i. ∠𝐵 = 90 − 28 iv. checking:
∠𝐵 = 62° 𝑐 2 = 𝑎2 + 𝑏 2
5
ii. cos 28 = 5.662 = 52 + 2.662
𝑐
5
𝑐= 32.04 ≈ 32.07 𝑖𝑛
cos 28
𝑐 = 5.66 𝑖𝑛
𝑏
iii. tan 28 =
𝑎
𝑏 = 5 tan 28
𝑏 = 2.66 𝑖𝑛
EXAMPLE 2: Given ∆𝑋𝑌𝑍 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 ∠𝑌 = 90°, 𝑥 = 4.52 𝑐𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑧 = 4.52 𝑖𝑛, find ∠𝑋, ∠𝑍 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦.
Solution:
4.52
i. tan 𝑋 =
7.25
∠𝑋 = 31° 56′ 29"
7.25
ii. tan 𝑍 =
4.52
∠𝑍 = 58° 3′ 31"
iii. 𝑦 2 = 𝑥 2 + 𝑧 2
𝑦 = 8.54 𝑖𝑛

Figure 4
 What’s More

ACTIVITY 3: Solve the missing parts of ∆𝐴𝐵𝐶 given that ∠𝐶 = 90°,

i. 𝑎 = 16 𝑐𝑚, 𝐴 = 38° 20′ iv. 𝑎 = 11. 42 𝑖𝑛, 𝑏 = 28.73 𝑖𝑛
ii. 𝑐 = 22.34 𝑐𝑚, 𝐴 = 52° 33 27"
′ v. 𝑎 = 7.36 𝑐𝑚, 𝑐 = 29.28 𝑐𝑚
iii. 𝑏 = 6.87 𝑖𝑛, 𝐵 = 26° 48′ 17"
ACTIVITY 4: Determine the missing parts of the given composite figures.
i. Solve for the lengths of 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑, where ∠𝐴 = 53° 7′ and ∠𝐵 = 73° 18′ (Figure 5)
ii. Solve for lengths of w, x, y, and z. (Figure 6)
iii. Determine the lengths of LM, MN, MO, NO and ∠𝑀𝑁𝑂. (Figure 7)

Figure 6
Figure 5

Figure 7

What I Have Learned

𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒
sin 𝜃 = csc 𝜃 =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒

𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡
cos 𝜃 sec 𝜃 =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒 ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡
tan 𝜃 = cot 𝜃 =
𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒

What I can Do

1. A street up a hill in Baguio City rises 110 meters through a distance of 420 meters along the
street. What is the measure of the angle of inclination 𝜃 of the street?
2. A rafter is in the form of an isosceles triangle. The height of the rafter bisects the triangle into
two equal parts. Determine the base of the triangle and the length of the rafter.
3. A ladder rests against a building at a point that is 56 feet from the ground. If the ladder
makes a 48° angle with the ground, what is the length of the ladder? What is distance of the
foot of the ladder from the wall.
4. A 25 – meter high vertical cliff casts a shadow that reaches a boat on the sea 15 meters from
the base of the cliff. What is the direct distance from the boat to the top of the cliff?

5. A ladder on a fire truck can be turned to a maximum angle of 70° and can be extended to a
maximum length of 27 meters. If the base of the ladder is mounted on the truck 2 meters above
the ground, how high above the ground will the ladder reach?

Prepared by: Virginia Marieta E. Mariano