A simple proof.
Say you have such a triangle with legs a All of the special side based right triangles possess angles
Special right triangles
A special right triangle is a right triangle with some
regular feature that makes calculations on the triangle
easier, or for which simple formulas exist. For example, a
right triangle may have angles that form a simple ratio,
such as 45-45-90. This is called an "angle based" right
triangle. A "side based" right triangle is one in which the
lengths of the sides form a whole number ratio, such as 3-
4-5. Knowing the ratios of the angles or sides of these
special right triangles allows one to quickly calculate
various lengths in geometric problems without resorting to
more advanced methods.
[edit] Angle-based
"Angle-based" special right triangles are specified by the
integer ratio of the angles of which the triangle is
composed. The integer ratio of the angles of these
triangles are such that the larger (right) angle equals the
sum of the smaller angles: . The
side lengths are generally deduced from the basis of the
unit circle or other geometric methods. This form is most
interesting in that it may be used to rapidly reproduce the
values of trigonometric functions for the angles 30°, 45°, &
60°.
[edit] 45-45-90 triangle
The side lengths of a 45-45-90 triangle
Constructing the diagonal of a square results in a triangle
whose three angles are in the ratio . With the
three angles adding up to 180° (π), the angles respectively
measure 45° (π/4), 45° (π/4), and 90° (π/2). The sides are
in the ratio
and b and hypotenuse c. Suppose that a = 1. Since two which are not necessarily rational numbers, but whose
angles measure 45°, this is an isosceles triangle and we sides are always of integer length and form a Pythagorean
triple. They are most useful in that they may be easily
remembered and any multiple of the sides produces the
have b = 1. The fact that follows immediately same relationship.
from the Pythagorean theorem.
[edit] Common Pythagorean triples
Triangles with these angles are the only possible right
triangles that are also isosceles triangles in Euclidean There are several Pythagorean triples which are very well
geometry. However, in spherical geometry and hyperbolic known, including:
geometry, there are infinitely many different shapes of
right isosceles triangles.
[edit] 30-60-90 triangle
(a multiple of the 3:4:5 triple)
The smallest of these (and its multiples, 6:8:10,
9:12:15, ...) is the only right triangle with edges in
arithmetic progression. Triangles based on Pythagorean
triples are Heronian and therefore have integer area.
And these are all the pythagorean triples with both non-
The side lengths of a 30-60-90 triangle
hypotenuse sides less than 256:
This is a triangle whose three angles are in the ratio
, and respectively measure 30°, 60°, and 90°.
Since this triangle is half of an equilateral triangle, some
refer to this as the hemieq triangle. The designation 30-60-
90 is not only cumbersome, it references the degree, an
arbitrary division of angular measure. The sides are in the
ratio 1 : √3 : 2.
The proof of this fact is clear using trigonometry. Although
the geometric proof is less apparent, it is equally trivial:
Draw an equilateral triangle ABC with side length
2 and with point D as the midpoint of segment BC.
Draw an altitude line from A to D. Then ABD is a
30-60-90 (Hemieq) triangle with hypotenuse of
length 2, and base BD of length 1.
The fact that the remaining leg AD has length
follows immediately from the Pythagorean
theorem.
[edit] Side-based
 Isosceles right-angled triangles can not have sides with
integer values. However, infinitely many almost-isosceles
right triangles do exist. These are right-angled triangles
with integral sides for which the lengths of the non-
hypotenuse edges differ by one.[1] Such almost-isosceles
right-angled triangles can be obtained recursively using
Pell's equation:
a0 = 1, b0 = 2
an = 2bn-1 + an-1
bn = 2an + bn-1
an is length of hypotenuse, n=1, 2, 3, .... The smallest
Pythagorean triples resulting are:

[edit] Calculating common trig functions

Special triangles are used to aid in calculating common trig
[edit] Fibonacci triangles functions, as below:
Starting with 5, every other Fibonacci number Degrees Radians sin cos tan Trig without Tears Part 3:
{0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,...} is the length of the 0 0 0 1 0
hypotenuse of a right triangle with integral sides, or in Functions of Special Angles
30 π/6 1/2 √3 / 2 √3 / 3
other words, the largest number in a Pythagorean triple. revised 25 Aug 2009
45 π/4 √2 / 2 √2 / 2 1
The length of the longer leg of this triangle is equal to the Copyright © 1997–2010 Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems
sum of the three sides of the preceding triangle in this 60 π/3 √3 / 2 1/2 √3
90 π/2 1 0 - Summary: You need to know the function values of
series of triangles, and the shorter leg is equal to the
certain special angles, namely 30° (π/6), 45° (π/4), and
difference between the preceding bypassed Fibonacci
60° (π/3). You also need to be able to go backward and
number and the shorter leg of the preceding triangle.
know what angle has a sine of ½ or a tangent of −√3. While
The first triangle in this series has sides of length 5, 4, and it’s easy to work them out as you go (using easy right
3. Skipping 8, the next triangle has sides of length 13, 12 triangles), you really need to memorize them because
(5 + 4 + 3), and 5 (8 − 3). Skipping 21, the next triangle has you’ll use them so often that deriving them or looking them
sides of length 34, 30 (13 + 12 + 5), and 16 (21 − 5). This up every time would really slow you down.
series continues indefinitely and approaches a limiting
Functions of 45°
triangle with edge ratios:
Look at this 45-45-90° triangle, which means sides a and b
are equal. By the Pythagorean theorem,
. a² + b² = c²
This right triangle is sometimes referred to as a dom, a But a = b and c = 1; therefore
name suggested by Andrew Clarke to stress that this is the
triangle obtained from dissecting a domino along a 2a² = 1
diagonal. The dom forms the basis of the aperiodic a² = 1/2
pinwheel tiling proposed by John Conway and Charles
Radin. a = 1/√2 = (√2)/2
[edit] Almost-isosceles Pythagorean triples Since a = sin 45°,
sin 45° = (√2)/2
Also, b = cos 45° and b = a; therefore
cos 45° = (√2)/2
Use the definition of tan A, equation 3 or equation 4:
tan 45° = a/b = 1
(14) sin 45° = cos 45° = (√2)/2
tan 45° = 1
Functions of 30° and 60°
Now look at this diagram. I’ve drawn two 30-60-90°
triangles back to back, so that the two 30° angles are next
to each other. Since 2×30° = 60°, the big triangle is a 60-
60-60° equilateral triangle. Each of the small triangles has
hypotenuse 1, so the length 2b is also 1, which means that
b = ½2s
But b also equals cos 60°, and therefore
cos 60° = ½
You can find a, which is sin 60°, by using the Pythagorean
theorem:
(½)² + a² = c² = 1
(15) sin 30° = ½, sin 60° = (√3)/2
cos 30° = (√3)/2, cos 60° = ½
tan 30° = (√3)/3, tan 60° = √3
Mnemonic for All Special Angles
Incidentally, the sines and cosines of 0, 30°, 45°, 60° and
90° display a pleasing pattern:
(16) for angle A = 0, 30° (π/6), 45° (π/4), 60° (π/3), 90°
(π/2):
sin A = (√0)/2, (√1)/2, (√2)/2, (√3)/2, (√4)/2
cos A = (√4)/2, (√3)/2, (√2)/2, (√1)/2, (√0)/2
tan A = 0, (√3)/3, 1, √3, undefined
It’s not surprising that the cosine pattern is a mirror image
of the sine pattern, since sin(90°−A) = cos A.
Trig without Tears Part 4:
Functions of Any Angle
The trig functions had their roots in measuring sides of
triangles, and chords of a circle (which is practically the
same thing). If we think about an angle in a circle, we can
extend the trig functions to work for any angle.
In the diagram, the general angle A is drawn in standard
position, just as we did above for an acute angle. Just as
before, its vertex is at the origin and its initial side lies
along the positive x axis. The point where the terminal side
of the angle cuts the circle is labeled (x,y).
(This particular angle happens to be between 90° and 180°
(π/2 and π), and we say it lies in Quadrant II. But you could
draw a similar diagram for any angle, even a negative angle
or one >360°.)
Now let’s define sine and cosine of angle A, in terms of the
coordinates (x,y) and the radius r of the circle:
(21) sin A = y/r, cos A = x/r
This is nothing new. As you saw above when A was in
Quadrant I, this is exactly the definition you already know
from equation 1: sin A = opposite/hypotenuse, cos A =
adjacent/hypotenuse. We’re just extending it to work for
any angle.

1/4 + a² = 1 revised 25 Aug 2009
Copyright © 1997–2010 Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems
a² = 3/4 ⇒ a = (√3)/2
Summary: The six trig functions were originally defined
Since a = sin 60°, sin 60° = (√3)/2. for acute angles in triangles, but now we define them for
Since you know the sine and cosine of 60°, you can easily any angle (or any number). If you want any of the six
use the cofunction identities (equation 2) to get the cosine function values for an angle that’s not between 0 and 90°
and sine of 30°: (π/2), you just find the function value for the reference
angle that is within that interval, and then possibly apply
cos 30° = sin(90°−30°) = sin 60° = (√3)/2 a minus sign.
sin 30° = cos(90°−30°) = cos 60° = 1/2
So far we have defined the six trig functions as ratios of
As before, use the definition of the tangent to find the sides of a right triangle. In a right triangle, the other two
tangents of 30° and 60° from the sines and cosines: angles must be less than 90°, as suggested by the picture
at left.
tan 30° = sin 30° / cos 30°
Suppose you draw the triangle in a circle this way, with
tan 30° = (1/2) / ((√3)/2) angle A at the origin and the circle’s radius equal to the
tan 30° = 1 / √3 = (√3)/3 hypotenuse of the triangle. The hypotenuse ends at the
point on the circle with coordinates (x,y), where x and y
and are the lengths of the two legs of the triangle. Then using
tan 60° = sin 60° / cos 60° the standard definitions of the trig functions, you have
tan 60° = ((√3)/2) / (1/2) sin A = opposite/hypotenuse = y/r
tan 60° = √3 cos A = adjacent/hypotenuse = x/r
The values of the trig functions of 30° and 60° can be This is the key to extending the trig functions to any angle.
summarized like this:
Not Just Triangles Any More
The other function definitions don’t change at all. From
equation 3 we still have
tan A = sin A / cos A
which means that
tan A = y/x
and the other three functions are still defined as
reciprocals (equation 5).
Once again, there’s nothing new here: we’ve just
extended the original definitions to a larger domain.
Why Bother?
So why go through this? Well, for openers, not every
triangle is an acute triangle. Some have an angle greater
than 90°. Even in down-to-earth physical triangles, you’ll
have to be concerned with functions of angles greater than
90°.
Beyond that, it turns out that all kinds of physical
processes vary in terms of sines and cosines as functions of
time: height of the tide; length of the day over the course
of a year; vibrations of a spring, or of atoms, or of
electrons in atoms; voltage and current in an AC circuit;
pressure of sound waves, Nearly every periodic process
can be described in terms of sines and cosines.
And that leads to a subtle shift of emphasis. You started
out thinking of trig functions of angles, but really the
domain of trig functions is all real numbers, just like most
other functions. How can this be? Well, when you think of
an “angle” of so-and-so many radians, actually that’s just a
pure number. For instance, 30°=π/6. We customarily say
“radians” just to distinguish from degrees, but really π/6 is
a pure number. When you take sin(π/6), you’re actually
evaluating the function sin(x) at x = π/6 (about 0.52), even
though traditionally you’re taught to think of π/6 as an
angle.
We won’t get too far into that in these pages, but here’s
an example. If the average water depth is 8 ft in a certain
harbor, and the tide varies by ±3 ft, then the height at
time t is given by a function that resembles y =
8 + 3 cos(0.52t). (It’s actually more complicated, because
high tides don’t come at the same time every day, but
that’s the idea.)
Reference Angles
Coming back from philosophy to the nitty-gritty of
computation, how do we find the value of a function when
the angle (or number) is outside the range [0;90°] (which is
0 to π/2)? The key is to define a reference angle.
Here’s the same picture of angle A again, but with its
reference angle added. With angle A in standard position,
the reference angle is the acute angle between the
terminal side of A and the positive or negative x axis. In
this case, angle A is in Q II, the reference angle is 180°−A therefore 420° ends in the same position in the circle as
(π−A). Why? Because the two angles together equal 180°
(π).
What good does the reference angle do you? Simply this:
the six function values for any angle equal the function
values for its reference angle, give or take a minus sign. (360°−45°). −45° is in Q IV.
That’s an incredibly powerful statement, if you think about Examples: Function Values
it. In the drawing, A is about 150° and the reference angle
is therefore about 30°. Let’s say they’re exactly 150° and
30°, just for discussion. Then sine, cosine, tangent,
cotangent, secant, and cosecant of 150° are equal to those negative sign by looking where the angle is.
same functions of 30°, give or take a minus sign.
What’s this “give or take” business? That’s what the next
section is about.
Signs of Function Values
Remember the extended definitions from equation 21:
sin A = y/r, cos A = x/r
The radius r is always taken as positive, and therefore the
signs of sine and cosine are the same as the signs of y and
x. But you know which quadrants have positive or negative negative. Answer: tan(−225°) = −1.
y and x, so you know for which angles (or numbers) the
sine and cosine are positive or negative. And since the
other functions are defined in terms of the sine and cosine, The techniques we worked out above can be generalized
you also know where they are positive or negative. into a set of identities. For instance, if two angles are
supplements then you can write one as A and the other as
Spend a few minutes thinking about it, and draw some
180°−A. You know that one will be in Q I and the other in
sketches. For instance, is cos 300° positive or negative?
Q II, and you also know that one will be the reference
Answer: 300° is in Q IV, which is in the right-hand half of
angle of the other. Therefore you know at once that the
the circle. Therefore x is positive, and the cosine must be
sines of the two angles will be equal, and the cosines of
positive as well. The reference angle is 60° (draw it!), so
the two will be numerically equal but have opposite signs.
cos 300° equals cos 60° and not −cos 60°.
Here you see a unit circle (r = 1) with four identical
You can check your thinking against the chart that follows.
triangles. Their angles A are at the origin, arranged so that
Whatever you do, don’t memorize the chart! Its purpose is
they’re mirror images of each other, and their hypotenuses
to show you how to reason out the signs of the function
form radii of the unit circle. Look at the triangle in
values whenever you need them, not to make you waste
Quadrant I. Since its hypotenuse is 1, its other two sides
storage space in your brain.
are cos A and sin A.
Signs of Function Values The other three triangles are the same size as the first so
QI Q II Q III Q IV their sides must be the same length as the sides of the first
0 to 90° 90 to 180° 180 to 270° 270 to 360° triangle. But you can also look at the other three radii as
0 to π/2 π/2 to π π to 3π/2 3π/2 to 2π belonging to angles 180°−A in Quadrant II, 180°+A in
x positive negative negative positive Quadrant III, and −A or 360°−A in Quadrant IV. All the
y positive positive negative negative others have a reference angle equal to A. From the
sin A symmetry, you can immediately see things like
positive positive negative negative
(= y/r) sin(180°+A) = −sin A and cos(−A) = cos A.
cos A The relations are summarized below. Don’t memorize
positive negative negative positive them! Just draw a diagram whenever you need them — it’s
(= x/r)
tan A easiest if you use a hypotenuse of 1. Soon you’ll find that
positive negative positive negative
(= y/x) you can quickly visualize the triangles in your mind and you
won’t even need to draw a diagram. The identities for
What about other angles? Well, 420° = 360°+60°, and tangent are easy to derive: just divide sine by cosine as
usual.
60° — it’s just going once around the circle and then an
additional 60°. So 420° is in Q I, just like 60°. sin(180°−A) = cos(180°−A) = tan(180°−A) =
sin A −cos A −tan A
You can analyze negative angles the same way. Take −45°.
sin(π−A) = cos(π−A) = tan(π−A) =
That occupies the same place on the circle as +315°
sin A −cos A −tan A
sin(180°+A) = cos(180°+A) = tan(180°+A) =
(22)
−sin A −cos A tan A
As you’ve seen, for any function you get the numeric value sin(π+A) = cos(π+A) = tan(π+A) =
by considering the reference angle and the positive or −sin A −cos A tan A
Example: What’s cos 240°? Solution: Draw the angle and sin(−A) = cos(−A) = tan(−A) =
see that the reference angle is 60°; remember that the −sin A cos A −tan A
reference angle always goes to the x axis, even if the y axis
Periodic Functions
is closer. cos 60° = ½, and therefore cos 240° will be ½,
give or take a minus sign. The angle is in Q III, where x is You should be able to see that 360° brings you all the way
negative, and therefore cos 240° is negative. Answer: around the circle. That means that an angle of 360°+A or
cos 240° = −½. 2π+A is the same as angle A. Therefore the function values
are unchanged when you add 360° or a multiple of 360° (or
Example: What’s tan(−225°)? Solution: Draw the angle and
2π or a multiple) to the angle. Also, if you move in the
find the reference angle of 45°. tan 45° = 1. But −225° is in
opposite direction for angle A, that’s the same angle as
Q II, where x is negative and y is positive; therefore y/x is
360°−A or 2π−A, so the function values of −A and 360°−A
(or 2π−A) are the same.
Identities for Related Angles
For this reason we say that sine and cosine are periodic
functions with a period of 360° or 2π. Their values repeat
over and over again. Of course secant and cosecant, being
reciprocals of cosine and sine, must have the same period.
What about tangent and cotangent? They are periodic too,
but their period is 180° or π: they repeat twice as fast as
the others. You can see this from equation 22:
tan(180°+A) = tan A says that the function values repeat
every 180°.