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A right triangle with the hypotenuse c. In a right triangle, the hypotenuse is the side that is opposite the right angle, while the other two sides are called the catheti or legs. [7] The length of the hypotenuse can be calculated using the square root function implied by the Pythagorean theorem.
When the direction of a Euclidean vector is represented by an angle , this is the angle determined by the free vector (starting at the origin) and the positive -unit vector. The same concept may also be applied to lines in a Euclidean space, where the angle is that determined by a parallel to the given line through the origin and the positive x ...
For example, the sine of angle θ is defined as being the length of the opposite side divided by the length of the hypotenuse. The six trigonometric functions are defined for every real number , except, for some of them, for angles that differ from 0 by a multiple of the right angle (90°).
The opposite side is the side opposite to the angle of interest; in this case, it is . The hypotenuse is the side opposite the right angle; in this case, it is . The hypotenuse is always the longest side of a right-angled triangle. The adjacent side is the remaining side; in this case, it is . It forms a side of (and is adjacent to) both the ...
If an altitude is drawn from the vertex, with the right angle to the hypotenuse, then the triangle is divided into two smaller triangles; these are both similar to the original, and therefore similar to each other. From this: The altitude to the hypotenuse is the geometric mean (mean proportional) of the two segments of the hypotenuse. [2]: 243
Basis of trigonometry: if two right triangles have equal acute angles, they are similar, so their corresponding side lengths are proportional.. In mathematics, the trigonometric functions (also called circular functions, angle functions or goniometric functions) [1] are real functions which relate an angle of a right-angled triangle to ratios of two side lengths.
The term is a calque of Latin angulus rectus; here rectus means "upright", referring to the vertical perpendicular to a horizontal base line. Closely related and important geometrical concepts are perpendicular lines, meaning lines that form right angles at their point of intersection, and orthogonality , which is the property of forming right ...
In this way, this trigonometric identity involving the tangent and the secant follows from the Pythagorean theorem. The angle opposite the leg of length 1 (this angle can be labeled φ = π/2 − θ) has cotangent equal to the length of the other leg, and cosecant equal to the length of the hypotenuse. In that way, this trigonometric identity ...