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Fig. 1 – A triangle. The angles α (or A), β (or B), and γ (or C) are respectively opposite the sides a, b, and c.. In trigonometry, the law of cosines (also known as the cosine formula or cosine rule) relates the lengths of the sides of a triangle to the cosine of one of its angles.
The cosine, cotangent, and cosecant are so named because they are respectively the sine, tangent, and secant of the complementary angle abbreviated to "co-". [32] With these functions, one can answer virtually all questions about arbitrary triangles by using the law of sines and the law of cosines. [33]
If the law of cosines is used to solve for c, the necessity of inverting the cosine magnifies rounding errors when c is small. In this case, the alternative formulation of the law of haversines is preferable. [3] A variation on the law of cosines, the second spherical law of cosines, [4] (also called the cosine rule for angles [1]) states:
Using the law of cosines avoids this problem: within the interval from 0° to 180° the cosine value unambiguously determines its angle. On the other hand, if the angle is small (or close to 180°), then it is more robust numerically to determine it from its sine than its cosine because the arc-cosine function has a divergent derivative at 1 ...
The spherical cosine formulae were originally proved by elementary geometry and the planar cosine rule (Todhunter, [1] Art.37). He also gives a derivation using simple coordinate geometry and the planar cosine rule (Art.60). The approach outlined here uses simpler vector methods. (These methods are also discussed at Spherical law of cosines.)
This formula is the law of cosines, sometimes called the generalized Pythagorean theorem. [37] From this result, for the case where the radii to the two locations are at right angles, the enclosed angle Δ θ = π /2, and the form corresponding to Pythagoras' theorem is regained: s 2 = r 1 2 + r 2 2 . {\displaystyle s^{2}=r_{1}^{2}+r_{2}^{2}.}
By the spherical law of cosines: , = , , + , , Take the spherical triangle of the tetrahedron X {\displaystyle X} at the point P i {\displaystyle P_{i}} . The sides are given by α i , l , α k , j , λ {\displaystyle \alpha _{i,l},\alpha _{k,j},\lambda } and the only known opposite angle is that of λ {\displaystyle \lambda ...
In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle.The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is opposite that angle to the length of the longest side of the triangle (the hypotenuse), and the cosine is the ratio of the length of the adjacent leg to that ...