What is Trigonometry?
Trigonometry (from Greek trigōnon "triangle" + metron "measure") is a branch of Mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and the angles between these sides. Trigonometry defines the trigonometric functions, which describe those relationships and have applicability to cyclical phenomena, such as waves. The field evolved during the third century BC as a branch of geometry used extensively for astronomical studies. It is also the foundation of the practical art of surveying.
Trigonometry for Other SciencesTrigonometry is the branch of Mathematics that deals with triangles, circles, oscillations andwaves; it is absolutely crucial to much of geometry and physics. You will often hear it described as if it was all about triangles, but it is a lot more interesting than that. For one thing, it works with all angles, not just triangles. For another, it describes the behaviour of waves and resonance, which are at the root of how matter works at the most fundamental level. They are behind how sound and light move, and there are reasons to suspect they are involved in our perception of beauty and other facets of how our minds work - so trigonometry turns out to be fundamental to pretty much everything. Any time you want to figure out anything to do with angles, or turning, or swinging, there's trigonometry involved. | Trigonometry as Computational GeometryTrigonometry began as the computational component of Geometry. For instance, one statement of plane geometry states that a triangle is determined by a side and two angles. In other words, given one side of a triangle and two angles in the triangle, then the other two sides and the remaining angle are determined. Trigonometry includes the methods for computing those other two sides. The remaining angle is easy to find since the sum of the three angles equals 180 degrees (usually written 180°). |