Trigonometry Problems on the SAT are Easy Problems

#shorts #math

Trig problems on the SAT are usually pretty easy. This is basically a free point if you know SOHCAHTOA

[nikolaristic]

I did this the long way
sin²x +cos²x=1
16/25 +cos²x=1
cos²x=9/25
cosx=3/5
since the angle is in the 2nd quadrant cosx will be -3/5.
So we have tanx=sinx/cosx
tanx=4/5//-3/5, the 5s cancel out
tanx=-4/3

[Sgth]

The 2nd piece of info is good. It tells us wherein the quadrant.

[moeberry]

Note that the ratio is 4/5 but you cannot label a UNIT circle with a hypotenuse of 5. That length would lie outside the unit circle ⭕️ with radius 1.

[aaqbed]

How come the hypotenuse is 5? Isn't it supposed to be -5 since the slope is negative?

[kidd]

Can you please explain why it should be in the 2nd quadrant ?

[krislegends]

This question is very confusing to me. It doesn't say π/2 radians, so how would I know that they mean radians? They use greater than and less than signs instead of saying location. I think of size when I see those signs, not location. Lastly, sin theta uses absolute values, but tan theta is negative.