trigonometry

Dave's Short Trig Course

This website is a fantastic intorduction to trigonometry. It covers all the basics and presents the reader with plenty of illustrations. Make sure that your browser is Java-enabled. The click and drag simulations can really give you a grasp of how the same thing can look from multiple angles. If your just starting into trig GO TO THIS WEBSITE FIRST! Also check out his Trig Identities list.

SOS Math:

SOSMath is a great all arround math website. They go into a little more detail and have a good search engine to find the exact topic you're looking for.

My Trig notes:

Truthfully trig was the only math that I was really good at. I had all the identities memorized, I could do big problems in my head, and it's the only math I've come across that I truly think of as fun. Trig was taught to me by Russell Weeks if you have him as a teacher you are lucky.

That being said it's been several years since I've had the pleasure of doing much trigonometry. Forgive me if my skills aren't all there, and I'll do my best to present the subject the best I can.

Memorization:

Trig involves ALOT of memorization. If you are going to memorize anything in trig take the time to memorize the below things. It will save you alot of time while taking tests knowing that

sin(30°) = sin(pi/6) = 1/2

and that it's the same thing as:

cos(60°) = cos(pi/3) = 1/2

as well as the other simple memorizations. I know it seems like alot all up front, but really it's not that bad. That being said here are the things that I used the most in trig.

Basics:

The first thing about trig is that that you will use both degrees and radians for angle measurements. So you have to know how to convert between the two.

Conversion