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Help your students prepare for their Maths GCSE with this free comparing SOHCAHTOA worksheet of 34 questions and answers
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SOH CAH TOA is a mnemonic used to help us remember the different trigonometric ratios: sin(x)=opposite/hypotenuse, cos(x)=adjacent/hypotenuse and tan(x)=opposite/adjacent.
These trigonometric ratios can be used to calculate the size of missing sides and missing angles in right-angled triangles. The first step is to label the opposite side, the adjacent side and the hypotenuse for the given angle. Once we have labelled the sides, we can use SOHCAHTOA to decide which trigonometric function to use. This depends on which sides we know or are trying to work out.
When finding the length of a side of a right angled triangle, we substitute the information we know into the appropriate trig ratio and solve the equation to find the missing length. When finding the size of an angle, again we substitute the information we know into the appropriate trig ratio and we then use the inverse trigonometric functions, sin-1, cos-1 or tan-1 to solve for the angle.
Trigonometry has many real life applications, for example finding side lengths and angles of elevation in construction.
Looking forward, students can then progress to additional geometry worksheets and practice problems for example a 3D shapes worksheet or an area of a triangle worksheet.
For more teaching and learning support on Geometry our GCSE maths lessons provide step by step support for all GCSE maths concepts.
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