Question

right triangle trigonometry - sohcahtoa
right triangle trigonometry relates the sides of a right triangle to the angle measures of the two acute angles.
17
x 74°
calculate the value for x.
answer (round to 1 decimal): x =
(ie 1.2 or 16.0)
ok

Explanation:

Step1: Identify the trigonometric ratio

We use cosine since $\cos\theta=\frac{\text{adjacent}}{\text{hypotenuse}}$. Here $\theta = 74^{\circ}$, adjacent side is $x$ and hypotenuse is $17$. So $\cos(74^{\circ})=\frac{x}{17}$.

Step2: Solve for $x$

$x = 17\times\cos(74^{\circ})$. Since $\cos(74^{\circ})\approx0.2756$, then $x=17\times0.2756 = 4.6852\approx4.7$.

Answer:

$4.7$