4.6.4

Triangle Formulae

Test yourself

Area of a Triangle

We can use the formula: area of a triangle = 12ab sin(C).

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Formula

  • Area of a triangle = 12ab sin(C) since the vertical height is b sin(C).
  • This formula can also be used to calculate the side length of a triangle whose area is known.
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Example

  • If we are given a triangle with two sides of 8cm and 10cm and the area is 20cm2, we can calculate the angle between the sides as follows:
    • 20 = 12 × 8 × 10 × sin(C)
    • 20 = 40 × sin(C)
    • sin(C) = 12
    • C = 30°

Sine and Cosine Rules

We can use the sine and cosine rules to calculate angles and lengths in triangles.

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Labelling triangles

  • Use lowercase letters for the sides and capital letters for the angles opposite each side.
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Swapping A, B and C

  • Note that the cosine rule can be written for the other angles too:
    • c2 = a2 + b2 - 2ab cos C
    • b2 = a2 + c2 - 2ac cos B

Jump to other topics

1Numbers

2Equations, Formulae & Identities

3Sequences, Functions & Graphs

4Geometry

5Vectors & Transformation Geometry

6Statistics & Probability

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