Law of Sines

Application of the Law
of Sines
Introduction
trigonometry, the law of sines, is an equation

In A
relating the lengths of the sides of a triangle (any D
shape) to the sines of its angles. According to the α
law, α
r
where a, b, and c are the lengths of the sides of a c

b
triangle, and A, B, and C are the opposite angles (see O
the figure to the right), while R is the radius of the h
triangle's circumcircle. When the last part of the
equation is not used, the law is sometimes stated
using the reciprocals; γ β
C a B
E
History Proof of Law
• According to Ubiratàn D'Ambrosio and The area T of any triangle =0.5*base*height

Helaine Selin, the spherical law of sines was
discovered in the 10th century. Selecting one side of the triangle as the base, the height of
the triangle relative to that base is computed as the length
• It is initially attributed to Abu-Mahmud of another side times the sine of the angle between the
Khojandi, Abu al-Wafa' Buzjani, Nasir al-Din chosen side and the base. Thus, depending on the
al-Tusi and Abu Nasr Mansur selection of the base the area of the triangle can be written
as any of:
• Ibn Muʿādh al-Jayyānī's The book of
unknown arcs of a sphere in the 11th =
century contains the general law of sines.
Multiplying this by gives
• The plane law of sines was later stated in the
13th century by Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī. In his On
the Sector Figure, he stated the law of sines
for plane and spherical triangles, and
provided proofs for this law
Application of Sine Law
1. The law of sines is used to find angles of a general triangle. If two sides and the enclosed angle are known, it can be
used in conjunction with the law of cosines to find the third side and the other two angles.
2. In placing a cantilever beam to provide structure while making a bridge
3. In figuring the wind speed and driving the airplane at a particular speed to reach destination in an hour
4. Determining the height of a steep cliff
5. In determining the overhead crane angle
6. Rooftop support during construction
7. Dispatching fire trucks in times of emergency from nearest station
8. In determining height of leaning tower of pisa or a ladder.

App 1: Finding angle of a Triangle App 2: Making a bridge
Work out the length of x in the triangle below Find the length of a cantilever beam if it supports a
straight beam of length 10m and the cantilever beam
is below it by 6m making an angle of 30 degree
60
x 10 90
80 6
7 60

x=7.96(accurate to three significant figure) x=12m

App 3:Windspeed Calculation App 4:Steep Cliff Height
Two surveyors, Alice and Bob, need to determine the height of
A pilot wishes to fly an airplane due East, but a strong wind a steep cliff. They stand 50 m apart where they each have a
blowing Southeast at 100 km/h keeps blowing the airplane off- clear view of the cliff and each other. Bob measures an angle of
course. If the airplane has a cruising speed of 450 km/h, in elevation of 61◦ from the base of the cliff to its highest point.
what direction should the pilot fly to reach the destination? He also measures the angle between Alice and the base of the
cliff as 72◦ . Alice measures the angle between Bob and the
base of the cliff as 38◦ . How tall is the cliff?
Using the Sine Law to determine the acute angle θ.

sin θ /100 = sin 45◦/ 450
sin θ = 100 sin 45◦/ 450 Both ∆ABC and ∆BCD share a common side, BC. Determine
θ = (100 sin 45◦ /450 ) ∠ACB, then use the Sine Law to calculate |BC|. ∠ACB = 180◦ −
≈9◦ 38◦ − 72◦ = 70◦
The pilot should fly approximately 9◦ North of East |BC| /sin 38◦ = 50 /sin 70◦ =>|BC| = 50 sin 38◦ /sin 70◦≈ 32.76 m
Using the tangent ratio, along with the approximate value of |
BC|, to determine the height of the cliff, |CD|.
tan 61◦ ≈ |CD|/ 32.76 =>|CD| ≈ 32.76 tan 61◦ ≈ 59.1 m
So, the height of the cliff is approximately 59.1 m
App 5: Overhead Crane angle App 6:Rooftop support
An overhead crane is suspended from a ceiling by two chains. A cottage under construction is to be 12.6 m wide. The two
One chain is 4.6 m long and forms an angle of 60 with the sides of the roof are to be supported by rafters that meet at
ceiling. The other chain is 6.4 m long. What angle does the an angle of 50o . How long should the rafters be if they are
larger chain make with the ceiling? the same length?
< A+ < C + 50 =180

x + x + 50 =180
B=38 degree 2x =180 − 50
∴The second chain makes an angle of 38o with the x = 65
ceiling.
a sin 50=12.6 sin 65

a=14.9m
∴The rafters are both 14.9 m long.
App 7: Fire Truck Dispatch
Two fire-lookout stations are 15 miles apart, with station A Notice that to find 38°, you need to subtract 52° from 90°. By
directly east of station B. Both stations spot a fire. The the same token, to find 54°, you need to subtract 36° from 90°.
angular direction of the fire from station B is N52°E and the Notice also that the angle opposite 15 is missing, so we need to
angular direction of the fire from station A is N36°W. How find it.
far is the fire from station A? 38 + 54 + missing angle = 180
The biggest trick is this problem is to understand the meaning 92 + missing angle = 180, so missing angle = 88
of N52°E and N36°W. Now, we can use the law of sines to find the distance the fire is
N52°E means 52 degrees east of north. from station A.
Let x be the distance from the fire to station A.
N36°W means 36 degrees west of north.
Here is what the graph will look like. sin(88°)/15 = 0.066
sin(38°)/X = 0.066
x = sin(38°)/0.066
= 0.066
The distance the fire is from station A is = 9.328 miles

App 8: Leaning Tower of Pisa
Let us find angle y and angle z
angle y + 5.5 = 90, so angle y = 84.5
The leaning tower of pisa is inclined 5.5 degrees from the 84.5 + 30.5 + angle z =180
vertical. At a distance of 100 meters from the wall of the 115 + angle z = 180
tower, the angle of elevation to the top is 30.5 degrees. angle z = 65
Use the law of sines to estimate the height of the leaning Now, we can use law of sines.
tower?
= 0.00906
The graph made is shown below. Notice that the height is
shown with a green line. = 0.00906
Height of tower = sin(30.5°)/0.00906
Height of tower = 56 meters
In reality, the height of the leaning tower of pisa is 55.86

meters which is closest to our calculation
In similar way we will find the height of leaning ladder.

Thanks

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Application of the Law

trigonometry, the law of sines, is an equation

where a, b, and c are the lengths of the sides of a c

• According to Ubiratàn D'Ambrosio and The area T of any triangle =0.5*base*height

2. In placing a cantilever beam to provide structure while making a bridge

4. Determining the height of a steep cliff

5. In determining the overhead crane angle

6. Rooftop support during construction

7. Dispatching fire trucks in times of emergency from nearest station

8. In determining height of leaning tower of pisa or a ladder.

x=7.96(accurate to three significant figure) x=12m

Using the Sine Law to determine the acute angle θ.

< A+ < C + 50 =180

a sin 50=12.6 sin 65

The distance the fire is from station A is = 9.328 miles

Height of tower = sin(30.5°)/0.00906

Height of tower = 56 meters

In reality, the height of the leaning tower of pisa is 55.86

In similar way we will find the height of leaning ladder.

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• According to Ubiratàn D'Ambrosio and The area T of any triangle =0.5baseheight