A GUIDE TO

TRIGONOMETRY

A GUIDE TO TRIGONOMETRY FOR

BEGINNERS (FRESHMAN AND
SOPHOMORE YEAR)
INTRODUCTION
You have already studied about triangles, and in particular, right triangles,
in your earlier classes. Let us take some examples from our surroundings
where right triangles can be imagined to be formed. For instance :

1. Suppose the students of a school are visiting Qutub Minar. Now, if a

student is looking at the top of the Minar, a right triangle can be imagined
to be made. Can the student find out the height of the Minar, without
actually measuring it?

2. Suppose a girl is sitting on the balcony of her house located on the bank
of a river. She is looking down at a flower pot placed on a stair of a temple
situated nearby on the other bank of the river. A right triangle is imagined
to be made in this situation. If you know the height at which the person is
sitting, can you find the width of the river?

3. Suppose a hot air balloon is flying in the air. A girl happens to spot the
balloon in the sky and runs to her mother to tell her about it. Her mother
rushes out of the house to look at the balloon.Now when the girl had
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spotted the balloon initially it was at point A. When both the mother and
daughter came out to see it, it had already travelled to another point B. Can
you find the altitude of B from the ground?

In all the situations given above, the distances or heights can be found by
using some mathematical techniques, which come under a branch of
mathematics called ‘trigonometry’. The word ‘trigonometry’ is derived
from the Greek words ‘tri’ (meaning three), ‘gon’ (meaning sides) and
‘metron’ (meaning measure). In fact, trigonometry is the study of
relationships between the sides and angles of a triangle. The earliest
known work on trigonometry was recorded in Egypt and Babylon. Early
astronomers used it to find out the distances of the stars and planets from
the Earth. Even today, most of the technologically advanced methods used
in Engineering and Physical Sciences are based on trigonometric concepts.
In this chapter, we will study some ratios of the sides of a right triangle
with respect to its acute angles, called trigonometric ratios of the angle. We
will restrict our discussion to acute angles only. However, these ratios can
be extended to other angles also. We will also define the trigonometric
ratios for angles of measure 0° and 90°. We will calculate trigonometric
ratios for some specific angles and establish some identities involving
these ratios, called trigonometric identities.

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TRIGONOMETRIC RATIOS
In the previous section, you have seen some right triangles imagined to be
formed in different situations. Let us take a right triangle ABC as shown in
Fig. 8.4. Here, ∠ CAB (or, in brief, angle A) is an acute angle. Note the
position of the side BC with respect to angle A. It faces ∠ A. We call it the
side opposite to angle A. AC is the hypotenuse of the right triangle and the
side AB is a part of ∠ A. So, we call it the side adjacent to angle A.

Note that the position of sides change when you consider angle C in place
of A

You have studied the concept of ‘ratio’ in your earlier classes. We now
define certain ratios involving the sides of a right triangle, and call them

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trigonometric ratios. The trigonometric ratios of the angle A in the right
triangle ABC are defined as follows :

The ratios defined above are abbreviated as sin A, cos A, tan A, cosec A,
sec A
and cot A respectively. Note that the ratios cosec A, sec A and cot A are
respectively,
the reciprocals of the ratios sin A, cos A and tan A.
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So, the trigonometric ratios of an acute angle in a right triangle express the
relationship between the angle and the length of its sides.

Remark : Note that the symbol sin A is used as an abbreviation for ‘the
sine of the angle A’. sin A is not the product of ‘sin’ and A. ‘sin’ separated
from A has no meaning. Similarly, cos A is not the product of ‘cos’ and A.
Similar interpretations follow for other trigonometric ratios also. Now, if
we take a point P on the hypotenuse AC or a point Q on AC extended, of
the right triangle ABC and draw PM perpendicular to AB and QN
perpendicular to AB extended (see Fig. 8.6), how will the trigonometric
ratios of ∠ A in ∆ PAM differ from those of ∠ A in ∆ CAB or from those
of ∠ A in ∆ QAN?
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To answer this, first look at these triangles. Is ∆ PAM similar to ∆ CAB?
Using the AA criterion of similarity, you will see that the triangles PAM
and CAB are similar. Therefore, by the property of similar triangles, the
corresponding sides of the triangles are proportional.

This shows that the trigonometric ratios of angle A in ∆ PAM do not differ
from those of angle A in ∆ CAB. In the same way, you should check that
the value of sin A (and also of other trigonometric ratios) remains the same
in ∆ QAN also. From our observations, it is now clear that the values of the
trigonometric ratios of an angle do not vary with the lengths of the sides of
the triangle, if the angle remains the same.

2 2
Note : For the sake of convenience, we may write 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝐴, 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝐴 etc., in
2 2
place of (𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝐴) , (𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝐴) , etc., respectively. But cosec A is called sine
inverse A. Similar conventions hold for the other trigonometric ratios as
well. Sometimes, the Greek letter θ (theta) is also used to denote an angle.

Remark : Since the hypotenuse is the longest side in a right triangle, the
value of sin A or cos A is always less than 1 (or, in particular, equal to 1).
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EXERCISE 1

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Trigonometric Ratios of Some Specific Angles
From geometry, you are already familiar with the construction of angles of
30°, 45°, 60° and 90°. In this section, we will find the values of the
trigonometric ratios for these angles and, of course, for 0°.
TRIGONOMETRIC RATIOS OF 45°

In ∆ ABC, right-angled at B, if one angle is 45°, then the other angle is

also 45°, i.e., ∠ A = ∠ C = 45° (see above figure). So, BC = AB (Why?)

Now, Suppose BC = AB = a.

2 2 2 2 2 2
Then by Pythagoras Theorem, 𝐴𝐶 = 𝐴𝐵 + 𝐵𝐶 or 𝑎 + 𝑎 = 2𝑎

Therefore 𝐴𝐶 = 𝑎 2

Using the definition of trigonometric ratios, we have:

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Trigonometric Ratios of 30° and 60°

Let us now calculate the trigonometric ratios of 30° and 60°. Consider an
equilateral triangle ABC. Since each angle in an equilateral triangle is 60°,
therefore, ∠ A = ∠ B = ∠ C = 60°. Draw the perpendicular AD from A
to the side BC.
Now ∆ ABD ≅ ∆ ACD (Why?)
Therefore, BD = DC
and ∠ BAD = ∠ CAD (CPCT)
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Now observe that: ∆ ABD is a right triangle, right-angled at D with ∠
BAD = 30° and ∠ ABD = 60° As you know, for finding the trigonometric
ratios, we need to know the lengths of the sides of the triangle. So, let us
suppose that AB = 2a.

Trigonometric Ratios of 0° and 90°

Let us see what happens to the trigonometric ratios of angle A, if it is made
smaller and smaller in the right triangle ABC, till it becomes zero. As ∠ A
gets smaller and smaller, the length of the side BC decreases.The point C
gets closer to point B, and finally when ∠ A becomes very close to 0°, AC
becomes almost the same as AB

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When ∠ A is very close to 0°, BC gets very close to 0 and so the value of
𝐵𝐶
sin A = 𝐴𝐶
is very close to 0.
Also, when ∠ A is very close to 0°, AC is nearly the same as AB and so
𝐴𝐵
the value of cos A = 𝐴𝐶
is very close to 1.
This helps us to see how we can define the values of sin A and cos A when
A = 0°. We define : sin 0° = 0 and cos 0° = 1.

Now, let us see what happens to the trigonometric ratios of ∠A, when it is
made larger and larger in ∆ ABC till it becomes 90°. As ∠ A gets larger
and larger, ∠ C gets smaller and smaller. Therefore, as in the case above,
the length of the side AB goes on decreasing. The point A gets closer to
point B. Finally when ∠ A is very close to 90°, ∠ C becomes very close
to 0° and the side AC almost coincides with side BC

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When ∠ C is very close to 0°, ∠ A is very close to 90°, side AC is nearly
the same as side BC, and so sin A is very close to 1. Also when ∠ A is
very close to 90°, ∠ C is very close to 0°, and the side AB is nearly zero,
so cos A is very close to 0. So, we define : sin 90° = 1 and cos 90° = 0.
Now, why don’t you find the other trigonometric ratios of 90°? We shall
now give the values of all the trigonometric ratios of 0°, 30°, 45°, 60° and
90° in Table 1, for ready reference.

Remark : From the table above you can observe that as ∠ A increases
from 0° to 90°, sin A increases from 0 to 1 and cos A decreases from 1 to
0. Let us illustrate the use of the values in the table above through some
examples.

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EXERCISE 2

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SUMMARY

Trigonometric Ratios of Complementary Angles

Recall that two angles are said to be complementary if their sum equals
90°. In ∆ ABC, right-angled at B, do you see any pair of complementary
angles?

Since ∠ A + ∠ C = 90°, they form such a pair. We have:

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Now let us write the trigonometric ratios for ∠ C = 90° – ∠ A.
For convenience, we shall write 90° – A instead of 90° – ∠ A.
What would be the side opposite and the side adjacent to the angle 90° –
A? You will find that AB is the side opposite and BC is the side adjacent to
the angle 90° – A.

Therefore,

So,
sin (90° – A) = cos A,
cos (90° – A) = sin A,
tan (90° – A) = cot A,
cot (90° – A) = tan A,
sec (90° – A) = cosec A,
cosec (90° – A) = sec A,

for all values of angle A lying between 0° and 90°. Check whether this
holds for
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A = 0° or A = 90°.

Note : tan 0° = 0 = cot 90°, sec 0° = 1 = cosec 90° and sec 90°, cosec 0°,
tan 90° and
cot 0° are not defined.
Now, let us consider some examples.

EXERCISE 3

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Trigonometric Identities
You may recall that an equation is called an identity when it is true for all
values of the variables involved. Similarly, an equation involving
trigonometric ratios of an angle is called a trigonometric identity, if it is
true for all values of the angle(s) involved. In this section, we will prove
one trigonometric identity, and use it further to prove other useful
trigonometric identities.

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Note that cosec A and cot A are not defined for A = 0°. Therefore (4) is
true for all A such that 0° < A ≤ 90°. Using these identities, we can express
each trigonometric ratio in terms of other trigonometric ratios, i.e., if any
one of the ratios is known, we can also determine the values of other
trigonometric ratios.

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EXERCISE 4

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SUMMARY

APPLICATIONS
You have studied trigonometric ratios. Now, you will be studying about
some ways in which trigonometry is used in the life around you.
Trigonometry is one of the most ancient subjects studied by scholars all
over the world. As we have said in Chapter 8, trigonometry was invented
because its need arose in astronomy. Since then astronomers have used it,
for instance, to calculate distances from the Earth to the planets and stars.
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Trigonometry is also used in geography and in navigation. The knowledge
of trigonometry is used to construct maps, determine the position of an
island in relation to the longitudes and latitudes.

In this chapter, we will see how trigonometry is used for finding the
heights and distances of various objects, without actually measuring them.

HEIGHTS AND DISTANCES

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In this figure, the line AC drawn from the eye of the student to the top of
the minar is called the line of sight. The student is looking at the top of the
minar. The angle BAC, so formed by the line of sight with the horizontal,
is called the angle of elevation of the top of the minar from the eye of the
student. Thus, the line of sight is the line drawn from the eye of an
observer to the point in the object viewed by the observer. The angle of
elevation of the point viewed is the angle formed by the line of sight with
the horizontal when the point being viewed is above the horizontal level,
i.e., the case when we raise our head to look at the object.

Now, consider the situation. The girl sitting on the balcony is looking down
at a flower pot placed on a stair of the temple. In this case, the line of sight
is below the horizontal level. The angle formed by the line of sight with the
horizontal is called the angle of depression. Thus, the angle of depression
of a point on the object being viewed is the angle formed by the line of
sight with the horizontal when the point is below the horizontal level, i.e.,
the case when we lower our head to look at the point being viewed

Now, you may identify the lines of sight, and the angles so formed in Fig.
8.3. Are they angles of elevation or angles of depression?

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Let us refer to Fig. 9.1 again. If you want to find the height CD of the
minar without actually measuring it, what information do you need? You
would need to know the following:
(i) the distance DE at which the student is standing from the foot of the
minar
(ii) the angle of elevation, ∠ BAC, of the top of the minar
(iii) the height AE of the student.

Assuming that the above three conditions are known, how can we
determine the height of the minar?
In the figure, CD = CB + BD. Here, BD = AE, which is the height of the
student.

To find BC, we will use trigonometric ratios of ∠ BAC or ∠ A.

In ∆ ABC, the side BC is the opposite side in relation to the known ∠ A.

Now, which of the trigonometric ratios can we use? Which one of them has
the two values that we have and the one we need to determine? Our search
narrows down to using either tan A or cot A, as these ratios involve AB
and BC.

Example 16: A tower stands vertically on the ground. From a point on the
ground, which is 15 m away from the foot of the tower, the angle of
elevation of the top of the tower is found to be 60°. Find the height of the
tower.
SOLUTION
First let us draw a simple diagram to represent the problem
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Here AB represents the tower, CB is the distance of the point from the
tower and ∠ ACB is the angle of elevation. We need to determine the
height of the tower, i.e., AB. Also, ACB is a triangle, right-angled at B. To
solve the problem, we choose the trigonometric ratio tan 60° (or cot 60°),
as the ratio involves AB and BC.

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Example 17: An electrician has to repair an electric fault on a pole of
height 5 m. She needs to reach a point 1.3m below the top of the pole to
undertake the repair work (see Fig. 9.5). What should be the length of the
ladder that she should use which, when inclined at an angle of 60° to the
horizontal, would enable her to reach the required position? Also, how far
from the foot of the pole should she place the foot of the ladder? (You may
take 3 = 1.73)

SOLUTION
In Fig. 9.5, the electrician is required to reach point B on the pole AD.
So, BD = AD – AB = (5 – 1.3)m = 3.7 m.
Here, BC represents the ladder. We need to find its length, i.e., the
hypotenuse of the right triangle BDC.
Now, can you think about which trigonometric ratio we should consider? It
should be sin 60°

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i.e., the length of the ladder should be 4.28 m.
Therefore, she should place the foot of the ladder at a distance of 2.14 m
from the pole.

EXAMPLE 18: : An observer 1.5 m tall is 28.5 m away from a chimney.

The angle of elevation of the top of the chimney from her eyes is 45°.
What is the height of the chimney?
SOLUTION:
Here, AB is the chimney, CD the observer and ∠ ADE the angle of
elevation (see Fig. 9.6). In this case, ADE is a triangle, right-angled at E
and we are required to find the height of the chimney.
We have AB = AE + BE = AE + 1.5
and DE = CB = 28.5 m
To determine AE, we choose a trigonometric ratio, which involves both AE
and DE. Let us choose the tangent of the angle of elevation.

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EXAMPLE 19: From a point P on the ground the angle of elevation of the
top of a 10 m tall building is 30°. A flag is hoisted at the top of the building
and the angle of elevation of the top of the flagstaff from P is 45°. Find the
length of the flagstaff and the distance of the building from the point P.
(You may take 3 = 1.732)

SOLUTION:
AB denotes the height of the building, BD the flagstaff and P the given
point. Note that there are two right triangles PAB and PAD. We are
required to find the length of the flagstaff, i.e., DB and the distance of the
building from the point P, i.e., PA. Since we know the height of the
building AB, we will first consider the right ∆ PAB.

i.e. the distance of the building from P is 10 3 m = 17.32 m. Next, let us

suppose DB = x m. Then AD = (10 + x) m.
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i.e., x = 10 ( 3 - 1) = 7.32
So, the length of the flagstaff is 7.32 m.

EXAMPLE 20: The shadow of a tower standing on a level ground is

found to be 40 m longer when the Sun’s altitude is 30° than when it is 60°.
Find the height of the tower.
SOLUTION:
AB is the tower and BC is the length of the shadow when the Sun’s altitude
is 60°, i.e., the angle of elevation of the top of the tower from the tip of the
shadow is 60° and DB is the length of the shadow, when the angle of
elevation is 30°.
Now, let AB be h m and BC be x m.
According to the question,
DB is 40 m longer than BC.
So, DB = (40 + x) m Now, we have two right triangles ABC and ABD.

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EXAMPLE 21: The angles of depression of the top and the bottom of an 8
m tall building from the top of a multi-storeyed building are 30° and 45°,
respectively. Find the height of the multi-storeyed building and the distance
between the two buildings.

SOLUTION:

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PC denotes the multistoried building and AB denotes the 8 m tall building.
We are interested in determining the height of the multi-storeyed building,
i.e., PC and the distance between the two buildings, i.e., AC.
Look at the figure carefully. Observe that PB is a transversal to the parallel
lines PQ and BD. Therefore, ∠ QPB and ∠ PBD are alternate angles, and
so are equal.
So ∠ PBD = 30°. Similarly, ∠ PAC = 45°. In right ∆ PBD, we have

EXERCISE 5
1. A circus artist is climbing a 20 m long rope, which is tightly
stretched and tied from the top of a vertical pole to the ground. Find
the height of the pole, if the angle made by the rope with the
ground level is 30°.

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2. A tree breaks due to storm and the broken part bends so that the top
of the tree touches the ground making an angle 30° with it. The
distance between the foot of the tree to the point where the top
touches the ground is 8 m. Find the height of the tree.
3. A contractor plans to install two slides for the children to play in a
park. For children below the age of 5 years, she prefers to have a
slide whose top is at a height of 1.5 m, is inclined at an angle of 30°
to the ground, whereas for older children, she wants to have a steep
slide at a height of 3m, and inclined at an angle of 60° to the
ground. What should be the length of the slide in each case?
4. The angle of elevation of the top of a tower from a point on the
ground, which is 30 m away from the foot of the tower, is 30°. Find
the height of the tower.
5. A kite is flying at a height of 60 m above the ground. The string
attached to the kite is temporarily tied to a point on the ground. The
inclination of the string with the ground is 60°. Find the length of
the string, assuming that there is no slack in the string.
6. A 1.5 m tall boy is standing at some distance from a 30 m tall
building. The angle of elevation from his eyes to the top of the
building increases from 30° to 60° as he walks towards the
building. Find the distance he walked towards the building.
7. From a point on the ground, the angles of elevation of the bottom
and the top of a transmission tower fixed at the top of a 20 m high
building are 45° and 60° respectively. Find the height of the tower.

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8. A statue, 1.6 m tall, stands on the top of a pedestal. From a point on
the ground, the angle of elevation of the top of the statue is 60° and
from the same point the angle of elevation of the top of the pedestal
is 45°. Find the height of the pedestal.
9. The angle of elevation of the top of a building from the foot of the
tower is 30° and the angle of elevation of the top of the tower from
the foot of the building is 60°. If the tower is 50 m high, find the
height of the building.
10. Two poles of equal heights are standing opposite each other on
either side of the road, which is 80 m wide. From a point between
them on the road, the angles of elevation of the top of the poles are
60° and 30°, respectively. Find the height of the poles and the
distances of the point from the poles.
11. A TV tower stands vertically on a bank of a canal. From a point on
the other bank directly opposite the tower, the angle of elevation of
the top of the tower is 60°. From another point 20 m away from this
point on the line joining this point to the foot of the tower, the angle
of elevation of the top of the tower is 30°. Find the
height of the tower and the width of the canal.

12. From the top of a 7 m high building, the angle of elevation of the
top of a cable tower is 60° and the angle of depression of its foot is
45°. Determine the height of the tower.
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 13. As observed from the top of a 75 m high lighthouse from the
sea-level, the angles of depression of two ships are 30° and 45°. If
one ship is exactly behind the other on the same side of the
lighthouse, find the distance between the two ships.
14. A 1.2 m tall girl spots a balloon moving with the wind in a
horizontal line at a height of 88.2 m from the ground. The angle of
elevation of the balloon from the eyes of the girl at any instant is
60°. After some time, the angle of elevation reduces to 30° . Find
the distance travelled by the balloon during the interval.

15. A straight highway leads to the foot of a tower. A man standing at

the top of the tower observes a car at an angle of depression of 30°,
which is approaching the foot of the tower with a uniform speed.
Six seconds later, the angle of depression of the car is found to be
60°. Find the time taken by the car to reach the foot of the tower
from this point.
16. The angles of elevation of the top of a tower from two points at a
distance of 4 m and 9 m from the base of the tower and in the same
straight line with it are complementary. Prove that the height of the
tower is 6 m.
SUMMARY
1. (i) The line of sight is the line drawn from the eye of an observer to
the point in the object viewed by the observer.
(ii) The angle of elevation of an object viewed, is the angle formed
by the line of sight with the horizontal when it is above the
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 horizontal level, i.e., the case when we raise our head to look at the
object.
(iii) The angle of depression of an object viewed, is the angle
formed by the line of sight with the horizontal when it is below the
horizontal level, i.e., the case when we lower our head to look at
the object.
2. The height or length of an object or the distance between two
distant objects can be determined with the help of trigonometric
ratios.

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