Pearson Geometry Common Core, 2011
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Pearson Geometry Common Core, 2011 View details
5. Trigonometry and Area
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Exercise 46 Page 648

The Law of Sines relates the sine of each angle to the length of the opposite side.

x=16.1 and y=20.0

Practice makes perfect

For any △ ABC, let the lengths of the sides opposite angles A, B, and C be a, b, and c, respectively.

The Law of Sines relates the sine of each angle to the length of the opposite side. sin A/a=sin B/b=sin C/c

Let's use this law to find the values of x and y. We will find them one at a time.

Finding x

Consider the given triangle.

We know that the length of a side is 14m and that the measure of its opposite angle is 44^(∘). We also know that the angle that is opposite to the length of the side we want to find is 53^(∘). With this information and using the Law of Sines, we can write an equation in terms of x. sin 44/14=sin 53/x Let's solve our equation!
sin 44/14=sin 53/x
x*sin 44/14=sin 53
xsin 44/14=sin 53
xsin 44=14sin 53
x=14sin 53/sin 44
x=16.095533...
x ≈ 16.1

Finding y

We can find the third interior angle using the Triangle Angle Sum Theorem. ∠ B=180- 53- 44= 83^(∘) Consider the triangle with the new information.

We know that the length of a side is 14m and that the measure of its opposite angle is 44^(∘). We want to find the length of the side that is opposite to the angle whose measure is 83^(∘). We can use the Law of Sines again! sin 44/14=sin 83/y Let's solve the above equation for y using the Cross Product Property.
sin 44/14=sin 83/y
sin 44* y=14 * sin 83
y=14* sin 83/sin 44
y=20.003568...
y≈ 20.0