Question

How do you use a trig ratio to solve for a side length

I have cos(37)=11/x but since 11 isn’t on the denominator, I don’t know what to do

Answer 1

To solve for a side length using cosine, multiply both sides of the equation by 'x' to isolate 'x', followed by dividing by the value of cos(37) to get the unknown side length.

Step-by-step explanation:

To solve for a side length using a trig ratio like cosine, you need to manipulate the equation algebraically when the value you want to find is the divisor. In your example, cos(37) = 11/x, you aim to find the unknown length 'x' that corresponds to the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

First, multiply both sides of the equation by 'x' to get x*cos(37) = 11. Next, to solve for 'x', divide both sides by cos(37) which gives you x = 11/cos(37). Now using a calculator to find the value of cos(37), you can then divide 11 by that number to find the unknown side length 'x'.

In your example, you have cos(37)=11/x. To solve for x, you can cross multiply and then isolate x.

First, cross multiply to get 11 = x * cos(37). Then, divide both sides by cos(37) to get x = 11 / cos(37). This will give you the value of x, which is the length of the side you are solving for.