In this post, we’re going to discover if plane trigonometry is hard and what are the basics topics you should follow if you want to succeed in plane trigonometry.
In addtion discover the difference between plane trigonometry and pre-calculus and which one they should take first.
Is plane trigonometry hard
plane trigonomety is not too hard if you have good foundations in the algebra 1 course including equations, inequalities, functions, and irrational numbers. In addtion to having solid basics in geometry especially the basics of trigonometry such as angles and trigonometric functions.
plane trigonometry is an interesting subject to learn especially for studnet who have ambitions to become engineers.
In addtion is it good to build solid foundations in math because trigonometry is a very important subject to absorb and take the most difficult coures like calculus and college algebra.
In-plane trigonometry there are 3 foundational topics that require a little bit of additional work or more focus:
- Pythagoras rule
- cosine formula
- sine formula
1 Pythagoras rule
Pythagoras rule is one of the most interesting subjects you should focus on in plane trigonometry, Pythagoras rule is a famous equation that helps you to determine the leg, and angle of right-angled triangles like this example below:
So every triangle that has one 90° angle degree we can apply a Pythagoras theorem as you can see in the equations.
c² = a² + b²
So for instance if they ask you to determine in a plane trigonometry problem a leg, you will be using this equation that will be:
a² = c² – b²
so
a = √ c² – b²
it is interesting to have a solid foundation in equations, inequalities, and root squares if you don’t want to find issues in this part of plane trigonometry.
2 – cosine formula
The second thing that you should focus on is knowing what is cosine which we can represent in this form below.
The cosine formula is so essential for plane trigonometry which many topics are based on.
For instance, if you’ve been asked to determine the hypotenuse of this follwoing triangle you have to be good to deal with fractons numbers. let’s have an example:
If I ask you to determine the hypotenuse from the following equation how you will be doing that.
cos θ = adjacent/hypotenuse
so to determine the hypotenuse we have to make a simple transfer of this function. to get finally this rule:
Hypotenuse = adjacent / cos θ
if you find it easier to make this kind of transfer between Numerator and denominator, this is a good sign that you understood the Algebra 1 and geometry course well. which is a good sign that indicates you are ready to take plane trigonometry.
3 – sine formula
The sine formula is similar to the previous cosine formula we talked about and describe, the sine formula is written in this form below.
You would not find any problem if you understood the previews cussing his formula because it is not too much different from it. So sin is written like this form below:
sin θ = oppostie / hypotenuse
summary
these were the three main foundations you have to be aware of before studying plane trigonometry topics. In addition to the previous basics that we mention in the first paragraph of the article like equations and inequalities square roots and fractions numbers.
If you still have some problems with these topics we recommend going back and restudying the algebra 1 course if you don’t want to struggle in more advanced trigonometry topics like analytical or spheric trigonometry.
Should I take plane trigonometry?
Yes, you should take plane trigonometry because that is so interesting to prepare for advanced math courses like precalculus and college algebra especially if you are interested to major in stem branches like engineering physics or math.
trigonometry is so important in this case not only in plane trigonometry by the whole course of trigonometry that includes topics like core, plane, spheric and analytic trigonometry they all are required in precalculus courses.
But the most interesting thing is in college for calculus and linear algebra. this is why you have to take a precalculus course and take it early.
In calculus trigonometry, it is included in the easiest topics to difficult ones, so there is no run from trigonometry if you think or prepare to study science, physics are engineering in College.
The only case where you should not focus to take the plane trigonometry Is if you are interested to major and humanities, liberal arts, or not a concentrated math major like business and psychology or any other branches that are categorized as a social science career.
Plane trigonometry or precalculus
The best thing to do is to focus on trigonometry including all its components like plane trigonometry core and analytical geometry firstly in algebra 2 and then in precalculus course where you will revise all these topics before taking serious college courses like calculus.
To clarify more Plane trigonometry is just a part of a trigonometry course which is finally included in the pre-calculus and Algebra 2 course. so in the trigonometry course, You’ll be studying plane trigonometry which belongs itself to Algebra 2 and precalculus courses.
for this reason, we said that the best thing to do is to study early trigonometry in Algebra 2 course and then take it again in precalculus to favorise your understanding of this topic to be ready to go to college.