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ThatFreak's avatar

What's the formula for these special right triangles?

Asked by ThatFreak (35points) December 1st, 2010

What’s the formula for how to solve a problem with a 30–60-90 triangle and a 45–45-90 triangle? My Geometry teacher told me but I forgot. If you could help me remember, that would be great. Thanks!

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3 Answers

bkcunningham1's avatar

In a 45–45-90 triangle, the measure of the hypotenuse is equal to the measure of a leg multiplied by SQRT(2).

In a 30–60-90 triangle, the measure of the hypotenuse is two times that of the leg opposite the 30o angle. The measure of the other leg is SQRT(3) times that of the leg opposite the 30o angle.

bobbinhood's avatar

Here are pictures of the relationships @bkcunningham1 just described.
30–60-90
45–45-90

Is this what you were asking for? Or were you wondering about the trig functions associated with those triangles?

LostInParadise's avatar

If you know the Pythagorean equation, you can work these out on your own. It is convenient to take the hypotenuse as equal to 1. For the 45 degree triangle, both the legs are equal, giving x^2 + x^2 =1, which works out to sqrt(2)/2.

For the 30–60-90 triangle, start with an equillateral triangle and drop an altitutde from the top vertex. This divides the triangle into two 30–60-90 triangles with the 30 degree angle on the top. Since all the sides of the original triangle were equal and the side opposite the 30 degree angle is half the base, the length of that side is ½. You can use the Pythagorean equation x^2 + (½)^2 = 1 to solve for the side opposite the 60 degree angle, which works out to sqrt(3)/2.

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