Contents
- Preface
7The Unit Circle: Sine and Cosine Functions
9Trigonometric Identities and Equations
- Introduction to Trigonometric Identities and Equations
- 9.1Verifying Trigonometric Identities and Using Trigonometric Identities to Simplify Trigonometric Expressions
- 9.2Sum and Difference Identities
- 9.3Double-Angle, Half-Angle, and Reduction Formulas
- 9.4Sum-to-Product and Product-to-Sum Formulas
- 9.5Solving Trigonometric Equations
11Systems of Equations and Inequalities
- AProofs, Identities, and Toolkit Functions
- Index
Introduction to Further Applications of Trigonometry
General Sherman, the world’s largest living tree. (credit: Mike Baird, Flickr)
Chapter Outline
The world’s largest tree by volume, named General Sherman, stands 274.9 feet tall and resides in Northern California.1 Just how do scientists know its true height? A common way to measure the height involves determining the angle of elevation, which is formed by the tree and the ground at a point some distance away from the base of the tree. This method is much more practical than climbing the tree and dropping a very long tape measure.
1
Source: National Park Service. "The General Sherman Tree." http://www.nps.gov/seki/naturescience/sherman.htm. Accessed April 25, 2014.In this chapter, we will explore applications of trigonometry that will enable us to solve many different kinds of problems, including finding the height of a tree. We extend topics we introduced in Trigonometric Functions and investigate applications more deeply and meaningfully.