How do you determine the number of possible triangles and find the measure of the three angles given #b=12, c=10, mangleB=49#?
1 Answer
Explanation:
Since the given information is for a SSA triangle it is the ambiguous case. In the ambiguous case we first find the height by using the formula
Note that A is the given angle and its side is always a so the other side will be b.
So if
-
#h < a < b# then then there are two solutions or two triangles. -
#h < b < a# then there is one solution or one triangle. -
#a < h < b# then there is no solution or no triangle.
If
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#a > b# then there is one solution or one triangle. -
#a <=b# there is no solution
Now let's use the Law of Cosine
quadratic formula
That is,
To find the measure of angle A we use the law of cosine and solve for A. That is,
and therefore