Week 4: Starting with trigonometry
Introduction
Trigonometry is the area of maths that deals with triangles, and how their sides and internal angles are related. The trigonometric functions have very practical applications in science and technology, such as in navigation, bridge design and determining astronomical distances. This week you will work with the three basic functions of sine, cosine and tangent. It is important that you have access to a scientific calculator to carry out the activities. This does not have to be a hand-held calculator, you may be able to use a mobile phone, tablet or PC. You will just need to check the calculator has trig functions.
By the end of this week you will have:
- gained an understanding of the sine, cosine and tangent functions
- revised Pythagoras theory
- calculated unknown angles and the length of sides of triangles.