How do you know when to use sin, cos and tan?

When trying to work out and unknown angle in a right angled triangle, if you know the length of two sides you can use these the figure out the right trig function to use. SOH CAH TOA is an easy way to remember which function to use:-If you have the length of the side opposite of the unknown angle and the hypotenuse you use sin - SinOppositeHypotenuse-If you have the length of the adjacent side to the unknown and the hypotenuse you use cos - CosAdjacentHypotenuse-If you have the length of the opposite and the adjacent side to the unknown you use tan- TanOppositeAdjacent

ED
Answered by Emily D. Maths tutor

2890 Views

See similar Maths GCSE tutors

Related Maths GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How would you solve the simultaneous equations 2x + y = 7 and 3x - y = 8


Solve for x the equation 1/(3x-6) +2/(x-2) =5


Differentiate dy/dx ((2x^3)+(x^2)-(4x)+7)


Work out the number of people in the office.


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning