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[UXLZ]

Wait, you're still in Primary, Cryxis?

Or is it different in your country? (Middle School or something.)

[hector13]

Fuckin' triangles. I used to enjoy maths before trig, then it was just... eh?

This mostly had to do with the way I learn things though. I need to understand what things mean, and it was never really explained what the sines and cosines and stuff of triangles were.

[Levi]

Fuckin' triangles. I used to enjoy maths before trig, then it was just... eh?

This mostly had to do with the way I learn things though. I need to understand what things mean, and it was never really explained what the sines and cosines and stuff of triangles were.

Yeah, I agree.  I'm the kind of person who can only learn something if I know the point of it.  I always did terrible in math because they explained how, but they never explain why.  My brain just tunes out if it doesn't see the point.

[pisskop]

You are supposed to make they why :\/

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

Wait, you're still in Primary, Cryxis?

Or is it different in your country? (Middle School or something.)

I'm in high school

[i2amroy]

and it was never really explained what the sines and cosines and stuff of triangles were.

Just in case anyone is still confused on this the basic idea is that it's the ratio between two sides of the triangle where
sine = opposite side / hypotenuse
cosine = adjacent side / hypotenuse
tangent = opposite side / adjacent side
(Which is where the whole SOHCAHTOA thing comes from).

This also has the nifty side effect of that if you are inscribing the triangle in the unit circle

Spoiler: As so (click to show/hide)

Then sine and cosine of the angle at the center of the circle correspond directly to the y and x co-ordinates of the point not on the x-axis.

[Graknorke]

I thought they were defined by the unit circle?

[i2amroy]

I thought they were defined by the unit circle?

6 of one, half a dozen of the other. You can go from one definition to the other, so it doesn't really matter which one you remember. Since you tend to be using it in ratio form in the classes where it gets explained (i.e. to convert two known sides and an angle to an unknown side, or similar) instead of on a unit circle I described it in ratio form first.

(That said the graph of the various trigonometric functions is defined as the value on the unit circle as the angle changes, yes. So sin(0 degrees) means the y value of the point on the unit circle when the inscribed triangle has 0 degrees in the center angle, which = 0.).

[UXLZ]

Hmm, I'm pretty sure the triangle is usually 1,1, root 2. At least, that's one of the special triangles.

[UXLZ]

Also, that reminds me of the argand diagrams. = \

[i2amroy]

Hmm, I'm pretty sure the triangle is usually 1,1, root 2. At least, that's one of the special triangles.

That's one special triangle, yeah, but it's not one that's inscribed on the unit circle (which requires the hypotenuse to always be equal to 1).

[KingofstarrySkies]

I am prepared for my science exam tomorrow!

Totally not nervous!
At all!

[Tawa]

I am prepared for my science exam tomorrow!

Totally not nervous!
At all!

Hey, I have a science test the day after!

Best of luck, fellow science-test-taker!

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

I'm taking a DC algebra test and a world history test (over Asia?) tomorrow...

[Vector]

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