The cosine rule is used to find unknown lengths or angles in triangles. It is particularly useful in non right-angled triangles, and when two sides and a given angle are given, or three sides with the objective of finding an angle.
The capital letters denote the interior angle at that point. In other words, B is the angle ABC, and A is the angle BAC. The lower-case letters are the lengths of the side opposite to the corresponding angle. That means that a, in this case is opposite to A and represents the length BC.
The cosine rule states that for a triangle ABC,
or, if transformed into the convenience of finding an angle,
Find the value of x in the following triangle:
Find the value of angle A in the following triangle:
Using the cosine rule,
See also:
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