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Ptolemy's theorem states that the sum of the products of the lengths of opposite sides is equal to the product of the lengths of the diagonals. When those side-lengths are expressed in terms of the sin and cos values shown in the figure above, this yields the angle sum trigonometric identity for sine: sin(α + β) = sin α cos β + cos α sin β.
The sine and the cosine functions, for example, are used to describe simple harmonic motion, which models many natural phenomena, such as the movement of a mass attached to a spring and, for small angles, the pendular motion of a mass hanging by a string. The sine and cosine functions are one-dimensional projections of uniform circular motion.
If the denominator, b, is multiplied by additional factors of 2, the sine and cosine can be derived with the half-angle formulas. For example, 22.5° (π /8 rad) is half of 45°, so its sine and cosine are: [11]
Illustration of the sum formula. Draw a horizontal line (the x -axis); mark an origin O. Draw a line from O at an angle α {\displaystyle \alpha } above the horizontal line and a second line at an angle β {\displaystyle \beta } above that; the angle between the second line and the x -axis is α + β {\displaystyle \alpha +\beta } .
In trigonometry, the law of sines, sine law, sine formula, or sine rule is an equation relating the lengths of the sides of any triangle to the sines of its angles. According to the law, = = =, where a, b, and c are the lengths of the sides of a triangle, and α, β, and γ are the opposite angles (see figure 2), while R is the radius of the triangle's circumcircle.
This complex exponential function is sometimes denoted cis x ("cosine plus i sine"). The formula is still valid if x is a complex number, and is also called Euler's formula in this more general case. [1] Euler's formula is ubiquitous in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and engineering.
In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle.The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is opposite that angle to the length of the longest side of the triangle (the hypotenuse), and the cosine is the ratio of the length of the adjacent leg to that ...
Ptolemy used chord length to define his trigonometric functions, a minor difference from the sine convention we use today. [12] (The value we call sin(θ) can be found by looking up the chord length for twice the angle of interest (2θ) in Ptolemy's table, and then dividing that value by two.)