CARAGA STATE UNIVERSITY

CABADBARAN CAMPUS
T.CURATO ST. CABADBARAN CITY

NAME: FREMA M. BAGUHIN

PROBLEMS IN REAL WORLD CONTEXT THAT USES

COSINE LAW

Mr. Bernardo has a field in the shape of a triangle. He asked the carpenter
to build a metal fence for his farm. From one vertex, it is 250 m to the second
vertex and 500 m to the third vertex. The angle between the lines of sight to the
second and third vertices is 35◦. Calculate how much fencing he would need to
enclose his entire field.
SOLUTION: C

a
500 m

250 m
A .

The carpenter is being asked to find the perimeter of the field.

Find a:
Use the Cosine law

a2 = b2+c2 – 2ab cosA

a2 = 5002 + 2502 – 2 (500) (250) (cos35◦)
a2 = 250,000 + 62,500 – 250,000 cos35◦
a2 = 312,500 – 250,000 cos35◦
a2 ≅ 292,021.19
a = 540.39 m

Find B:
Use the Cosine law

b2 = a2+c2-2ac cosB
<B = cos-1 (b2-a2-c2)
( -2ac )
<B = cos (5002-5402-2502 )
-1

(-2(540*39)(250))
<B = cos (-104,521.35)
-1

( -270,195 )
<B ≅ 67.24

Find C:
Use the Cosine law

<C = 180◦-35◦-67.24◦
<C ≅ 77.76

Perimeter = a+b+c
Perimeter = 540.39+500+250
Perimeter = 1,290.39 m

Therefore, the perimeter of the field is 1,290.39 m.