Structura| Geo|ogy 1echn|ques

SLeven uuLch naLural and Applled Sclences unlverslLy of Wlsconsln Creen 8ay
llrsLLlme vlslLors lease vlslL SlLe Map and ulsclalmer use 8ack Lo reLurn here

,athemat|ca| Notes
O useful CeomeLrlcal lacLs
O @rlgonomeLry 8efresher
O alculus ln ase ?ou lorgoL
O 8oLaLlons ln @hree ulmenslons
O 8esL llLs Lo Llnes CreaL lrcles and Small lrcles
O lormulas for lrcles and Spheres
O onsLrucLlng Llllpses
O More AbouL Llllpses
escr|pt|ve Geometry
escr|pt|ve Geometry |anes
O Plot Structure Contours, Given Strike And Dip
O Find Strike And Dip, Given Structure Contours
O Plot Structure Contours, Given Three Points
O Find Strike And Dip, Given Three Points
O Use oI Folded And Combined Constructions
O Find Strike And Dip Given Structure Contour And One Other Point
O Find Strike And Dip From Topographic Data
O Structure Contours on Non-planar SurIaces
escr|pt|ve Geometry L|nes
O Plot Map Trace And Elevation, Given Trend And Plunge
O Find Trend And Plunge, Given Map Trace And Elevation
O Find Intersection oI Two Planes
O Find Apparent Dip oI a Plane
escr|pt|ve Geometry ke|at|ons 8etween L|nes And |anes
O Find a Plane Containing Two Given Lines
O Find True Attitude Given Two Apparent Dips
O Find Intersection oI Three Planes
O Find Intersection oI a Line And a Plane
O Find Trend And Plunge, Given Pitch
O Find Pitch, Given Attitude Data
O Find Intersection oI Two Non-planar SurIaces
escr|pt|ve Geometry S|mp|e Geo|og|c Structures
O Fault OIIset: Subcrop oI OIIset Beds
O Fault OIIset and Displacement
O Fold Axis: Limb Intersections
O Fold Axis: Bedding And Cleavage
O Vertical Boreholes
O Inclined Boreholes
O Find True Thickness Irom Map Data
O Interpret Geologic Structures From Map Data
O Construct Simple Cross-section Irom Map Data
ntersect|ons of Structures W|th 1opography
O Intersections oI Structure and Topography: Overview

O Contour Topographic Data
O Find Intersection oI a Plane And a Simple Slope
O Find Intersection oI a Plane And a Ridge or Valley
O Find Outcrop Pattern oI Gently-dipping Plane
O Find Outcrop Pattern in Area oI Complex Topography
O Find Outcrop Patterns Involving Inliers or Outliers
O Find Outcrop Patterns oI Thick Rock Bodies
O Find Outcrop Patterns Involving Simple Faults
O Find Outcrop Patterns Involving Simple Folds
O Find Intersection oI a Line With Topography
O Find Intersection oI a Non-planar SurIace With Topography
Stereonet 1echn|ques
O About Spherical Projections
O Constructing The Stereographic Projection
O How Spherical Projections are Used
O Plotting Structures on the Opposite Side oI the Sphere
Stereonet 1echn|ques |anes
O Plot a Plane, Given Strike And Dip
O Find Strike And Dip oI Plotted Plane
Stereonet 1echn|ques L|nes
O Plot a Line, Given Trend And Plunge
O Find Trend And Plunge oI a Plotted Line
O Find Intersection oI Two Planes
O Find Apparent Dip oI a Plane
O Plot a Small Circle Given Its Center And Radius
Stereonet 1echn|ques ke|at|ons 8etween L|nes And |anes
O Find Angle Between Two Lines
O Find a Plane Containing Two Given Lines
O Find True Attitude Given Two Apparent Dips
O Find Trend And Plunge, Given Pitch
O Find Pitch, Given Attitude Data
O Find the Strike and Dip oI a Plane Irom Borehole Data
Stereonet 1echn|ques Construct|ons Us|ng o|es to |anes
O Plot the Pole to a Plane, Given Strike And Dip
O Find Strike And Dip oI Plane, Given its Pole
O Find Intersection oI Two Planes
O Find Angle Between Two Planes
O Find Angle Between a Plane And a Line
O Find a Plane Containing Two Given Lines
O Find True Attitude Given Two Apparent Dips
kotat|ons on 1he Stereonet
O Rotate Around a Vertical Axis
O Rotate Around Horizontal Axis
O Rotate Around an Arbitrary Axis (Vertical Method)
O Rotate Around an Arbitrary Axis (Horizontal Method)
O Rotations Beyond The Primitive Circle
Construct|ng Stereonets
O Construct a Polar Stereonet
O Construct an Equatorial Stereonet
O Construct an Oblique Stereonet
S|mp|e Structura| Ana|ys|s on the Stereonet
O 8eddlngcleavage lnLersecLlon
O 8eLa ulagrams
O l ulagrams
O Llnear SLrucLures And lold Axes
Contour|ng Stereonet ata
O Overlapping Circle Method
O Moving Window Method
O Kalsbeek Net
O Contouring Methods Compared
O Construct a Kalsbeek Net
Geometr|ca| Ana|ys|s of Io|ds
O lnLerllmb Angles And lold Shape
O lold AsymmeLry
O ompleLe Analysls of lolds
O onlcal SLrucLures
Stress And Stra|n
O The Mohr Circle
O Plot Real-World Stress Data on a Mohr Circle
O Convert Stress Irom Mohr Circle to Real-WorldFailure Envelopes
O Mohr Circles in Three Dimensions
O Mohr Circles and Conic Sections
O Mohr Circles and Finite Strain
O Mohr Circles and InIinitesimal Strain

Ana|ys|s of Comp|ex Structures
O Construct a Fold Cross-Section Using the Arc (Busk) Method
O Construct a Fold Cross-Section Using the Kink Method
O Construct a Fold Cross-Section Using the Similar-Fold Method
O Construct a Down-Plunge ProIile

Usefu| Geometr|ca| Iacts to know
SLeven uuLch naLural and Applled Sclences unlverslLy of Wlsconsln Creen 8ay
llrsLLlme vlslLors lease vlslL SlLe Map and ulsclalmer use 8ack Lo reLurn here

Construct|on Lrrors
Lven Lhe besL drafLsman wlll make unconsclous errors llke hablLually measurlng angles
sllghLly Loo large or Loo small or drawlng llnes sysLemaLlcally Lo Lhe lefL or rlghL of a polnL
Lhe llne ls supposed Lo pass Lhrough Also geologlc daLa have lnaccuracles of
measuremenL and geologlc sLrucLures are rarely geomeLrlcally slmple So consLrucLlons
wlll ofLen have sllghL errors ln Lhem even wlLh Lhe mosL careful work
nowadays geologlsLs are as llkely Lo ploL drawlngs on a compuLer as on paper
neverLheless Lhe same geomeLrlcal prlnclples apply @he accuracy of Lhe consLrucLlon ls
only as good as Lhe compuLer lnpuL and LhaL ln Lurn ls only as good as Lhe fleld
measuremenLs So errors sLlll occur and have Lo be dealL wlLh
Many consLrucLlons depend on flndlng Lhe lnLersecLlons of llnes A small
error ln Lhe locaLlon of one llne wlll resulL ln a large error ln Lhe poslLlon of
Lhe polnL when Lhe llnes meeL aL a small angle @ry Lo plan consLrucLlons
so LhaL llnes meeL aL large angles

@he larger you make your dlagram Lhe less serlous drafLlng errors wlll be urafLlng errors
Lend Lo be preLLy much consLanL ln slze An error of 03 mm ln a llne 1 cm long ls a 3
error Lhe same error of 03 mm ln a llne 10 cm long ls an 03 error
@ry Lo lnLerpolaLe raLher Lhan exLrapolaLe lnLerpolaLlon or esLlmaLlng values beLween
Lwo or more known values can be done wlLh falrly hlgh confldence @he errors are usually
no greaLer Lhan Lhe errors ln Lhe daLa lf you exLrapolaLe or esLlmaLe values beyond Lhe
range of known daLa any errors ln Lhe daLa wlll cause lncreaslngly large errors Lhe furLher
you exLrapolaLe ln addlLlon you have no way of knowlng wheLher Lhe paLLern you are
exLrapolaLlng mlghL change for example exLrapolaLlng Lhe depLh of a bed from known
daLa wlll noL alerL you Lo Lhe presence of a faulL
fLen Lhree llnes should ldeally lnLersecL aL a polnL buL do noL meeL ln
pracLlce 8evlew Lhe consLrucLlon for errors lf Lhe remalnlng resldual
error ls small and Lhe error Lrlangle ls more or less equllaLeral Lhe besL
esLlmaLe for Lhe locaLlon of Lhe polnL wlll llkely be Lhe cenLer of Lhe error
Lrlangle

lf Lhe error Lrlangle ls long and Lhln Lhe mldpolnL of Lhe shorLesL slde ls
probably Lhe besL esLlmaLe

N1 CNSLk 1nLSL nN1S AS A LCLNSL 1 8L CASUAL k SL N Uk
Wkk! revenLlng errors ls always beLLer Lhan correcLlng for Lhem
Necessary ata to erform Construct|ons
L|nes and |anes
lnLersecLlng sLralghL llnes deLermlne a polnL
/
/
--------x-------
/
/
@wo polnLs on a llne deLermlne a llne xx
@hree polnLs on a plane deLermlne a plane
_______________
/ x /
/ /
/ x /
/ x /
/______________/
@wo lnLersecLlng llnes on a plane deLermlne a plane
_______________
/ \ /
/ \ /
/ -----\----- /
/ \ /
/__________\___/
A llne and a polnL noL on Lhe llne deLermlne a plane
_______________
/ \ /
/ \ * /
/ \ /
/ \ /
/__________\___/
@he lnLersecLlon of a llne and a plane ls a polnL (unless Lhe llne and plane are parallel
or colnclde)
\
__\ __________
/ \ /
/ \ /
/ *P /
/_____________/
@he lnLersecLlon of Lwo planes ls a llne (unless Lhe planes are parallel or colnclde)
___
______________
\ / /
\ / /
X-------------X
/_\_ _ _ _ _ _/ \
\_____________\

@he lnLersecLlon of Lhree planes ls a polnL (unless some planes are parallel or
colnclde)
_________
__ |_________|____
\ / /| /
\ / / | /
X--------* |-X
/_\ \ | \
\________\|___\
|_________|
C|rc|es and Spheres
lnLersecLlng clrcles may deLermlne Lwo one or zero polnLs

@he cenLer of a clrcle and a polnL on lLs clrcumference deLermlne a clrcle

@he dlameLer of a clrcle deLermlnes Lhe clrcle

@hree polnLs on Lhe clrcumference of a clrcle deLermlne a clrcle

@he cenLer of a sphere and a polnL on lLs clrcumference deLermlne a
sphere

lour polnLs on Lhe clrcumference of a sphere deLermlne a sphere @he
sphere ls found more easlly by compuLaLlon Lhan consLrucLlon

@he lnLersecLlon of a plane and a sphere ls always a clrcle

L|||pses and L|||pso|ds
llve polnLs deLermlne any conlc secLlon (clrcle elllpse parabola or
hyperbola) buL Lhe consLrucLlons are very complex ?oure beLLer off
deLermlnlng Lhe curve maLhemaLlcally

@he ma[or and mlnor axes of an elllpse deLermlne Lhe elllpse @he ma[or
axls ls Lhe longesL dlameLer of Lhe elllpse Lhe mlnor axls ls Lhe shorLesL lf
Lhe Lwo axes are equal Lhe elllpse ls a clrcle lrcles are speclal cases of
elllpses

@he easlesL way Lo consLrucL an elllpse ls Lhe tramme| method LeL Lhe
ma[or axls be a and Lhe mlnor axls be b onsLrucL Lhe ma[or and mlnor
axes aL Lhe deslred locaLlon nexL mark polnLs A and 8 on Lhe edge of
a plece of paper LeL A a and 8 b Sllde Lhe paper so LhaL A moves
along Lhe mlnor axls and 8 on Lhe ma[or axls olnL Lhen Lraces ouL Lhe
elllpse

@he prlnclpal axes of an elllpsold deLermlne Lhe elllpsold @hese are Lhe
longesL and shorLesL dlameLers of Lhe elllpsold and Lhe dlameLer aL rlghL
angles Lo Lhe long and shorL axes

@he prlnclpal secLlons of an elllpsold deLermlne Lhe elllpsold @hese are
Lhe planes conLalnlng each palr of prlnclpal axes

AlLhough Lhe consLrucLlon ls complex any Lhree secLlons of an elllpsold
deLermlne Lhe elllpsold @hls facL ls lmporLanL ln deLermlnlng sLraln from
deformed sLrucLures lLs beLLer Lo use a compuLer Lo flnd Lhe elllpsold
maLhemaLlcally

@he lnLersecLlon of a plane and an elllpsold ls always an elllpse (Lhe elllpse
can be a clrcle)

1r|ang|es
@he Lhree sldes of a Lrlangle deLermlne Lhe Lrlangle
x
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
/ \
x-----------x
ne slde of a Lrlangle and Lhe Lwo ad[acenL angles deLermlne a Lrlangle
@hls facL ls Lhe basls for LrlangulaLlon
x
/ \

/ \

/A B\
x-----c-----x
@wo sldes of a Lrlangle and Lhe lncluded angle deLermlne a Lrlangle
x
/ \
/
b \
/
/B \
x-----c-----x
@wo sldes of a Lrlangle and a nonlncluded angle allow Lwo posslble
Lrlangles

known A 8 angle A 8 and 8 are posslble locaLlons for verLex 8

x C
+ / \
+
+ / \
+
+ / \
A-----------------x-----------x
B B'
@he alLlLudes of a Lrlangle meeL aL a common polnL lf Lhe Lrlangle ls
obLuse Lhe polnL can lle ouLslde Lhe Lrlangle

@he medlans of a Lrlangle (llnes from a verLex Lo Lhe mldpolnL of Lhe
opposlLe slde) meeL aL a common polnL (Lhe ceottolJ)

A 2/3 Ax

lf Lhree llnes LhaL should lnLersecL donL buL enclose a Lrlangle lnsLead lLs
cenLrold ls Lhe besL esLlmaLe of Lhe Lrue lnLersecLlon

@he angle blsecLors of a Lrlangle meeL aL a common polnL A clrcle LangenL
Lo all Lhree sldes has lLs cenLer aL Lhls polnL @he clrcle ls Lhe locltcle and
Lhe polnL ls Lhe loceotet

@he perpendlcular blsecLors of Lhe sldes of a Lrlangle meeL aL a common
polnL @he clrcle LhaL passes Lhrough all Lhree verLlces (Lhe cltcomcltcle)
has lLs cenLer aL Lhls polnL (Lhe cltcomceotet) @he clrcumcenLer need noL
lle wlLhln Lhe Lrlangle We can use Lhls facL Lo flnd Lhe cenLer of an
unknown clrcle glven Lhree polnLs on lLs clrcumference

ara||e| L|nes
verLlcal angles
Angle A u
Angle 8
Angle A + 180
Angle 8 + u 180
/
A / C
---------------------/------
--------------
B / D
/
arallel llnes
All angles A are equal
All angles 8 are equal
A + 8 180
B /
A
---------------------------
/----------
A / B
/
/
B / A
----------------------/-----
----------
A / B
Lquallyspaced parallel llnes dlvlde any lnLersecLlng llne lnLo equal segmenLs

A8 8 u
/
---------------------------
/A---------
/
-------------------------
/B-----------
/
-----------------------/C--
-----------
/
---------------------/D----
-----------
/
We can use Lhe prevlous facL Lo subdlvlde any llne segmenL lnLo equal segmenLs @o
subdlvlde A8 consLrucL an arblLrary llne A and lay off Lhe deslred number of equal
dlvlslons on lL onsLrucL 8 and Lhe parallel llnes as shown
C x
/ \
x \
/ \ \
x \ \
/ \ \ \
A x---x---x---x B
@o blsecL an angle seL your compass aL Lhe verLex of Lhe angle and draw an arc A @hen
seL Lhe compass where A cuLs Lhe angle (8 and ) and draw Lwo more arcs (L and l) @hese
meeL aL C A llne Lhrough C and v blsecLs Lhe angle
@o consLrucL Lhe perpendlcular blsecLor of a llne segmenL seL Lhe radlus of your compass
greaLer Lhan half Lhe lengLh of Lhe llne SeL Lhe compass aL each end of Lhe llne and draw
Lwo arcs A and 8 whlch lnLersecL aL and u Llne u ls Lhe perpendlcular blsecLor
@he radlus of a clrcle ls always perpendlcular Lo Lhe LangenL aL Lhe polnL where Lhe radlus
meeLs Lhe clrcle
@he perpendlcular blsecLor of a chord of a clrcle also blsecLs Lhe arc enclosed by Lhe chord
and passes Lhrough Lhe cenLer of Lhe clrcle
@he precedlng facL suggesLs how Lo flnd Lhe cenLer of a clrcle glven Lhree polnLs on Lhe
clrcumference A 8 and onsLrucL chords A8 A and 8 onsLrucL Lhe perpendlcular
blsecLors Lo A8 A and 8 @hey lnLersecL aL Lhe cenLer (AcLually you only need Lwo buL
Lhe Lhlrd serves as a check)
An lnscrlbed angle ln a clrcle ls equal Lo half Lhe cenLral angle @hls ls Lrue no maLLer where
Lhe verLex of Lhe lnscrlbed angle ls @hls facL ls one of Lhe leasLknown and mosL useful
geomeLrlc facLs As a consequence of Lhe above any angle lnscrlbed ln a semlclrcle ls a
rlghL angle
Congruent and S|m||ar I|gures
Congruent I|gures
llgures LhaL are ldenLlcal ln all Lhelr measuremenLs are cooqtoeot lf you can prove LhaL
Lwo flgures are congruenL you can use measuremenLs from one Lo deLermlne dlmenslons
of Lhe oLher @he followlng are congruenL flgures
O All clrcles of equal radlus or dlameLer
O Llllpses wlLh Lhe same ma[or and mlnor axes
O @rlangles wlLh one slde and Lwo ad[acenL angles equal
O @rlangles wlLh Lwo sldes and Lhe lncluded angle equal
O @rlangles wlLh all Lhree sldes equal
O 8egular polygons wlLh equal numbers of sldes and any slde equal
S|m||ar I|gures
llgures LhaL have correspondlng angles equal and all dlmenslons ln a glven raLlo are
lmllot lf you can show LhaL Lwo flgures are slmllar and can flnd Lhe proporLlon beLween
Lhem you can use any dlmenslon from one flgure Lo flnd Lhe correspondlng dlmenslon on
Lhe oLher @he followlng are slmllar
O All clrcles are slmllar
O All parabolas are slmllar
O All regular polygons wlLh equal numbers of sldes are slmllar
O @rlangles wlLh Lwo equal angles are slmllar
O 8lghL Lrlangles wlLh one oLher equal angle are slmllar
O lsoceles Lrlangles wlLh equal aplcal or base angles are slmllar
@hese Lwo speclal cases are very common



O @he angles of a Lrlangle sum Lo 180 degrees
O @he angles of an nslded polygon sum Lo (n2)180 degrees lf n3 Lhe sum ls 180 degrees
An mportant 1r|ang|e Construct|on
@hls consLrucLlon wlll crop up a number of Llmes ln a varleLy of appllcaLlons so lL ls useful
Lo learn lL Llnes A8 and x are perpendlcular lL ls easy Lo see LhaL Lrlangles A8 8
and A are slmllar LhaL ls all Lhelr angles are equal @herefore all Lhelr sldes have
consLanL raLlos
all
a 8
b A
c 8
d A
e
f A8 c+d

We can see LhaL
b/f e/a e ab/f
a/b c/e c ae/b a(ab/f)/b
2
a/f
d/b e/a d eb/a (ab/f)b/a
2
b /f
lrom Lhe yLhagorean @heorem noLe LhaL f
2
a
2
+ b
2
or f (a
2
+ b
2
)
and
c a
2/
(a
2
+ b
2
) d b
2/
(a
2
+ b
2
) e ab
/
(a
2
+ b
2
)
Notes for Computer Users
lL ls LempLlng Lo Lhlnk LhaL ln Lhls day of mlcrocompuLers and sophlsLlcaLed graphlcs LhaL
geomeLrlcal Lechnlques are obsoleLe ln sLrucLural geology or soon wlll be lar from lL!
A Lhorough knowledge of geomeLry ls absoluLely necessary for compuLer graphlcs and
wrlLlng sLrucLural geology programs on a compuLer ln facL Lhe need ls even more
sLrlngenL Lhan ever A hlghschool drafLlng course would be enough geomeLrlcal
background Lo pass a precompuLer course ln sLrucLural geology ?ou cannoL program a
compuLer or calculaLor Lo solve sLrucLural problems wlLhouL a good knowledge of Lhree
dlmenslonal analyLlcal geomeLry a sub[ecL normally encounLered ln Lhe second year of
college calculus lL ls ofLen posslble Lo do graphlcal consLrucLlons wlLhouL knowlng
LrlgonomeLry lL ls absoluLely lmposslble Lo program compuLers Lo solve sLrucLural
problems wlLhouL a Lhorough knowledge of LrlgonomeLry
Many sLudenLs expecL Lo geL a lucraLlve [ob programmlng compuLers @here are relaLlvely
few really baslc wldelyused uLlllLy programs and Lhese have all preLLy much been
wrlLLen @he fuLure belongs Lo people who can program compuLers for speclflc
appllcaLlons and use exlsLlng sofLware Lo solve problems ?ou cannoL program a compuLer
unless you can solve Lhe problem yourself
WheLher geologlc lnformaLlon ls publlshed ln prlnL or dlsplayed on a compuLer Lermlnal
screen varlous sorLs of graphlcal meLhods wlll have Lo be used A geologlsL musL be able
Lo read and lnLerpreL a wlde varleLy of dlagrams @hls need wlll only lncrease as graphlcs
sysLems become more wldespread and sophlsLlcaLed
@he vasLly lncreased compuLlng power avallable Lo geologlsLs makes lL posslble Lo solve
problems LhaL were ouL of reach a few years ago noL only do Lhe meLhods of solvlng
Lhese problems use geomeLry buL lL ls ofLen far more sophlsLlcaLed Lhan sLrucLural
geologlsLs of yore even dreamed of
lL wlll be some Llme yeL before geologlsLs can Lake compuLers ln Lhe fleld LhaL are small
enough and rugged enough Lo use and powerful enough Lo solve sLrucLural problems on
Lhe spoL (alLhough palmLop compuLers are fasL approachlng LhaL sLaLe) @he only
alLernaLlve ln such slLuaLlons ls Lo be able Lo solve Lhe problems manually








1r|gonometry kefresher
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University oI Wisconsin - Green Bay
First-time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1r|gonometr|c Iunct|ons ef|ned
@rlgonomeLrlc funcLlons are slmply Lhe raLlos beLween sldes of a rlghL Lrlangle
X
/|
/ |
/ |
Hypotenuse / | Opposite Side
/ |
/ |
/ |
Angle A/_______|
Adjacent Side
O Slne pposlLe / PypoLenuse
O oslne Ad[acenL / PypoLenuse
O @angenL pposlLe / Ad[acenL Slne / oslne
We can also deflne Lhese lessused funcLlons
O osecanL PypoLenuse / pposlLe 1 / Slne
O SecanL PypoLenuse / Ad[acenL 1 / oslne
O oLangenL Ad[acenL / pposlLe oslne / Slne 1 / @angenL
1he ythagorean ke|at|ons
lf we use a sLandard reference Lrlangle wlLh hypoLenuse 1 Lhen we have

X
/|
/ |
/ |
1 / | Sin A
/ |
/ |
/ |
Angle A/_______|
Cos A
lrom Lhe yLhagorean @heorem lL ls obvlous LhaL
2 2
Sin A + Cos A = 1
ulvldlng Lhls formula by Sln squared and os squared we obLaln
2 2 2 2
1 + Cot A = Csc A Tan A + 1 = Sec A
@hese are Lhe ythagorean ke|at|ons
ke|at|ons 8etween Iunct|ons
We can [usL as easlly deflne our angles Lhls way

X
/| Angle B
/ |
/ |
1 / | Cos B
/ |
/ |
/ |
/_______|
Sin B
Slnce 8 90A we have
O Sln A os (90A)
O os A Sln (90A)
O @an A oL (90A)
O oL A @an (90A)
@rlgonomeLrlc funcLlons are deflned for all angles lf our reference Lrlangle has a
hypoLenuse of 1 Lhen all posslble Lrlangles are radll of a unlL clrcle @he general deflnlLlon
of Lhe LrlgonomeLrlc funcLlons ls Lhls
|
(x,y) * |
\ | Sin, Cos, Tan +
Sin + \ |
Cos, Tan - \ |
\|A
----------|----------
|
|
|
Tan +, Sin, Cos - | Cos +, Sin, Tan -
|
x = Cos A, y = Sin A |
|
See lf you can reason ouL why Lhe followlng are Lrue
O Sln 0 0 Sln 90 1 Sln 180 0 Sln 270 1
O os 0 1 os 90 0 os 180 1 os 270 0
O @an 0 0 @an 90 lnflnlLy @an 180 0 @an 270 lnflnlLy
O Sln(A) Sln A os(A) os A @an(A) @an A
O Sln (180A) Sln A os(180A) os A @an(180A) @an A
O Sln (180+A) Sln A os(180+A) os A @an(180+A) @an A
Some Usefu| Approx|mat|ons
A very useful way of descrlblng angles ls ln Lerms of toJloo @here are 2 pl or 62832
radlans ln 360 degrees
lrom Lhe above deflnlLlon lL ls easy Lo see LhaL lf a clrcle has a radlus 1 Lhe lengLh of an
arc enclosed by an angle ls exacLly equal Lo Lhe angle ln radlans More generally lf a clrcle
has radlus 8 Lhe arc lengLh enclosed ln an angle C ls
A = RQ
Artillerymen use a system based on radian measure. They divide a circle into 6400 mils.
6400 is not exactly 2000 times pi but is a lot more convenient to use than 6283. At a
distance oI 1000 meters, one mil equals very nearly one meter (98.2 cm, to be precise).
When dealing with artillery Iire, the 2 discrepancy isn't that important!
O 1 degree 017433 radlans 1/373 (1/60 ls a good approxlmaLlon)
O 1 0002909 1/3400
O 1 0000048481 1/206000
39 When deallng wlLh very small angles Lhe followlng approxlmaLlons are very useful
O sln A A Lan A
O csc A 1/A coL A
O
O 2
O cos A 1 A /2
O
O 2
O sec A 1 + A /2
O
@hese approxlmaLlons are valld for all pracLlcal purposes for angles less Lhan 1 degree and
are accuraLe wlLhln 1 for angles less Lhan 10 degrees
60 Some oLher useful approxlmaLlons
lf x ls small compared Lo 1
O 1/(1 x) 1 + x
O 1/(1 + x) 1 x
O (1 + x)n 1 + nx
O (1 x)n 1 nx
O SC8@(1 + x) 1 + x/2
O SC8@(1 x) 1 x/2
O exp(x) 1 + x
O ln (1 + x) x
O exp(x) 1 x
O ln (1 x) x