Law of Cosines

Dr. Smiths Classroom Interactions T-Th 12:30-2 Jeremiah Lucas & Philip Flip Kromer

Objectives:
Our objectives are to review some basic trigonometric functions of sine, cosine, and tangent. Review the use of Law of Sines, and introduce the Law of Cosines. Gain applicable experience for the Law of Sines and Cosines.

TEKS:
(c)(3)(C): The student uses functions and their properties to model and solve real-life problems (c)(3)(D): Solve problems from physical situations using trigonometry, including the use of Law of Sines, Law of Cosines, and area formulas

Prior Knowledge:
Students should be able to Determine sin(), cos(), and tan() Utilize the Pythagorean Theorem Perform basic operations using a graphing calculator

Materials:
TI-83 Graphing calculators (1 for each student) Surveying device (provided by Jeremiah and Flip) Tape measure (checked out from Uteach)

Procedure of 3 day lesson: Day 1

Pass out handouts to the students with some word problems on them. The questions will be to utilize their ability to use the Pythagorean Theorem in one, two, or three steps for each problem. Allow them to work in groups? Part 1: Guided exploration of law of cosines. The first problem will be a simple right triangle problem. For convenience in the discussion, let's label the sides a, b, and c and the opposite angles A, B, and C side a is opposite angle A and so on. Now if one of the angles is a right angle, we know an awful lot about the triangle. For instance, if angle C is a right angle then we can 1) express a, b, and c in terms of each other: (students point out the pythagorean theorem) 2) express angle A in terms of sides a, b, and c:

(students point out trig identities) Part 2: More difficult triangle problem? But it should be obvious that most triangles are not right triangles. For instance, if we take the right triangle above and change the angle C to be acute, the relationships above don't hold true anymore. Can we, perhaps, use what we already know about the special case to find patterns in the general problem? Ask students to construct right triangles from given triangles: Interior leg triangles: (there are several versions; we will choose the one that intersects side b)

Exterior leg triangles: (there are several versions; we will choose the one that intersects side b)

Now ask What relationships can we find? Interior leg triangle: ( x = c cos(A) h = c sin(A) h +x =c (
2 2 2

(b-x) = a cos(C) h = a sin(C) h2 + (b-x)2 = a2 cos(A) = b / (c+x) ) )

Exterior leg triangle: tan(A) = h/b b2 + (c+x)2 = h2 Which one looks better to work with? (The interior leg triangle). Using the interior leg triangle, Equations are smashed together to simplify.

Part 5: Summary of law of cosines Give out and discuss a handout with the different forms for the laws of cosines (with a, b, and c on LHS) . Part 6: Drill problems and Homework Students are given a worksheet with straightforward applications of the law of cosines. After some time to work on these problems, we will discuss the results as a class. Part 7: Homework Pass out homework consisting of some similar problems.

Day 2
Part 1: Discussion of Homework Review homework problems. Part 2: Finding dimensions of acute and obtuse triangles In same groups, students work the following problem. Ex. A fire tower is built on the side of a hill. The hill has a slope of 6. The guide wires are 75 ft up hill from the tower and 75 ft down from the tower. How long is each guide wire? The students will have to use their problem solving skills. They will need to find a way to create right triangles in this problem, then use a combination of their trig skills with the Pythagorean Theorem. Students will work on 3 more similar problems in their small groups, then we will discuss the results as a class. Part 3: Bringing the Law of Sines and Cosines together Review the ways to determine congruent triangles from Geometry (SSS, SAS, and ASA) Review the Law of Sines.

a sin A

b sin B

c sin C

Students work in groups to fill out this table, showing which rule to use in a given scenario. Given Information Three sides Two sides and included angle Two sides and an angle opposite one side One side and two angles We discuss the results as a class. scenario from this table appropriate for that problem. Part 3: Homework Pass out a few simple problems where they have to determine which Law to use and properly apply the Law. Arrang ement SSS SAS SSA ASA Variabl es a,b,c a,b,C a,b,A a,A,B Approriate Law Law of Cosines Law of Cosines Law of Sines Law of Sines

Finally, we give out a worksheet with problems to solve. Students solve each problem and indicate the

Day 3:
Part 1: Review the Homework Go over the homework as a class Part 2: Surveying Time The class will be divided into 5 groups (of 4-5 students). They will be given certain measurements to find in the room, and tools to find distances and angles. We will set up 5 stations around the room, each with a different surveying challenge. Ex. Measure the distance form the doorknob to the overhead. Measure the distance from the overhead to the Einstein Poster. Using the angle finding tool we created find the inclusive angle. Using Law of Cosines find the distance between the doorknob to the Einstein poster. Each group will be given 3 stations to go to. Some of the stations will need to use the Law of Sines; the students have to choose the right method, take their measurements, and solve for the answer. Part 3: Go over the Surveying results as a class

Assessment
This lesson is structured in a Problem-based format. As such, it is broken down into a series of problems that build on each other. At each stage we ask students to explain and discuss their results, and ask

guiding questions to suggest the next line of inquiry. We plan to ask questions at a variety of cognitive levels in order to informally assess students understanding and progress. In addition, we will use the homework assignments given above as formal assessment.

Bibliography