Big Ideas Math Geometry, 2014
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Big Ideas Math Geometry, 2014 View details
6. Solving Right Triangles
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Exercise 2 Page 502

The tangent of an acute angle in a right triangle is the ratio of its opposite leg to its adjacent leg.

∠ F

Practice makes perfect
We want to determine which of the two acute angles in the given diagram has a tangent of 512.

The tangent of an acute angle in a right triangle is the ratio of its opposite leg to its adjacent leg. Let's calculate tan F and tan E.

tan =opposite/adjacent
tan F=DE/FD tan E=FD/DE
tan F=5/12 tan E=12/5

We can conclude that the acute angle that has a tangent of 512 is ∠ F.