I get this is kind of an overdone question, but I still don’t really understand what it is. I think of math visually, and for some reason, I just can’t really get an idea of what sin and cosine “look like,” just that they are ratios.
Thanks!
In: Mathematics
If you have a right triangle, and you choose an angle that is not the 90 degree angle, sine is the ratio of the line opposite that angle to the hypotenuse. When I say ratio, think you literally measure how long the line opposite is, then divide it by how long the hypotenuse is. It’s a number your get by taking the ratio (think fraction) of the lengths of certain sides of the triangle. Soh Cah Toa. Sin(angle) = opposite length/hypotenuse length. It’s not a thing by itself if that’s what is messing you up. It’s hard to do an ELI5 on this without getting some things a little wrong via the simplicity. If you really want to understand, plug in a bunch of values from small angles to big angles for sine and see what happens. I think that’ll help you visualize it.
Latest Answers