MATHEMATICS

QUARTER 4 – MODULE 6
MELC 6

Be informed
with the Laws

1
 PART I.
MELC 11: Solve problems involving oblique triangles.

A. Introduction and Discussion

This module was designed and written for a learner like you. It was developed to
help you solve problems involving oblique triangles.
This module focuses on solving problems involving oblique triangles. While going
through with this lesson, you are expected to demonstrate ability to apply the Law of
Sines and Law of Cosines to solve problems involving oblique triangles.

Lesson 1. Solving the third angle of Oblique Triangles.

An oblique triangle is a triangle which does not contain a right triangle. It contains
either three angles (acute triangle) or two acute angles and one obtuse angle (obtuse
triangle).

Acute triangle Obtuse triangle

If two triangles of an oblique triangle are known, the third angle can be computed.
.
Recall that the sum of the interior angles in a triangle is

Examples:
Given two of the angles of , solve for the measure of the third angle.
1.

–
–

2. ,

–
–

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Lesson 2: Solving word problems involving oblique triangles using the Law of Sines.

LAW OF SINES
a b c sin A sin B sin C
  or  
sin A sin B sin C a b c

A. Solving Oblique Triangles Involving Two Angles and the included side.

The Law of Sines is used to solve different cases of oblique triangles. This can be
used to solve oblique triangle in which two angles and the included side.

Example 1:
From his house, Dave is taking a walk along straight path. He decides to leave the
path, so he walks on the road that makes an angle of with the path. After walking for 4
km he reached the plaza, he turns 93 and take another road back towards his house? (a)
How far is the plaza from Dave’s house? (b) How long is the straight path?

Given: Let a be the distance from the plaza to Dave’s house.

Let b be length of the path.

Solution:
The given parts of the triangle involve two angles A and B, and the side a which is
the opposite of angle A. The given parts and the unknown parts are shown in the figure
below:
To solve for
B

93o
a
4 km

32o
C A
b

To solve for side a (the distance of the To solve for side b (the length of the
plaza from Dave’s house): straight path):
a c b c
 
sin A sin C sin B sin C
a 4 b 4
o
 
sin 32 sin 55o sin 93 o
sin 55o
a(sin 55o )  4 sin 32o b(sin 55o )  4 sin 93o
4 sin 32o 4 sin 93o
a b
sin 55o sin 55o
a  2.59 b  4.88
Dave will walk 2.59 kilometers to return The straight path is 4.88 kilometers
to his house from the plaza.

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Example 2:
The shorter diagonal of a parallelogram is 440mm. Find the perimeter of the
parallelogram if the angle between the sides and diagonals are and .

Given: mLABC=75o, mLBAC=48o, side c=440

Solution:

The given parts of the triangle involve two angles and the included side. This case
can also be solved using the law of sines. The given parts and the unknown parts are shown
in the figure below.
B
D

75o
a
440
To solve for :
75o
48o
A C
b

To solve for side a: To solve for side :

a c b c
 
sin A sin C sin B sin C
a 440 b 440
o
 
sin 48 sin 57 o sin 75 o
sin 57 o
a(sin 57 o )  440sin 48o b(sin 57 o )  440sin 75o
440sin 48o 440sin 75o
a b
sin 57 o sin 57 o
a  389.88 b  506.76

The perimeter (P) of the parallelogram is

P = 2(a+b)
P = 2(389.88 + 506.76)
P = 2(896.64)
P = 1793.28 mm

The perimeter of the parallelogram is

1793.28 mm.

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B. Solving Triangles Involving two sides and an angle opposite one of them

Another case of oblique triangle that involves two sides and the angle opposite one
of them can be solved using the Law of Sines.

Example:
Mike spotted a ship and a boat in the sea. The boat is 15 miles away from Mike and
21 miles away from the ship. If the two boats create an 80o angle from the observer, how far
is the ship from Mike?

Solution:

The given parts and the unknown parts are shown in the figure below.

To solve for angle C:

Boat (B)

21
a c 15

sin A sin C
80o
c sin A
sin C  Mike (A) b
Ship (C)
a
15(sin 80o )
sin C 
21
sin C  0.703434109  
(in a scientificcalculator, press 15 sin 80o  21then press ).
1
C  sin (0.703434109) ( press Shift, sin, Ans or Shift, sin, 0.70343109then press ).
C  44.70o or 44o 42'11'' ( press Shift, o ' ' ' button to convertto deg rees, min utes and sec onds.)

To solve for angle B. To solve for side b:

80o  44.70o  B  180o b


c

B  180o  80o  44.70o sin B sin C

 124.70 
b 15
B  180o o.
o

sin 55.30 sin 44.70o
B  55.300 b(sin 44.70o )  15 sin 55.30o
15 sin 55.30o
b
sin 44.70o
b  17.53 mi

The ship is 17.53 miles away from Mike

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C. Solving Triangles Involving two angles and the side opposite one of them

Another case of oblique triangle that involves two angles and the side opposite one of
them can be solved using the Law of Sines.

Example:

Pedro and Juan are observing the bird at the top of the tree in between them. The bird is
18 meters from Pedro and formed a 68o angle with the ground. From Juan’s place, the bird is 40
degrees from the ground. (a) How far is the bird from Juan? (b) How far is Juan from Pedro?

Solution:

The given parts and the unknown parts are shown in the figure below.

To solve for angle b (the distance between the bird and Juan):

Bird (A)

b
b c 18

sin B sin C
68o 40o
c sin B Juan (C)
b Pedro (B) a
sin C
18(sin 68o )
b
sin 40o
b  25.96  
(in a scientificcalculator, press 18 sin 68o  sin 40 then press ).
The bird is 25.96 meters from Juan.

To solve for (a) – distance between Juan and Pedro, determine first the third angle.

To solve for angle A. To solve for side a (distance between Juan

and Pedro):

68o  40o  A  180o a


c

A  180o  68o  40o sin A sin C

 108 
a 18
A  180o o.
o

sin 72 sin 40o
A  720 18 sin 72o
a
sin 40o
a  26.63

Juan and Pedro are 26.63 meters away from each other.

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Lesson 3: Solving word problems involving oblique triangles using the Law of
Cosines.
Other cases involving oblique triangles can be solved using the law of
cosines. In any triangle ABC, the square of a side is the sum of the squares of the
two other sides minus twice the product of those sides and the cosine of the included
angle.
a 2  b 2  c 2  2bc cos A
b 2  a 2  c 2  2ac cos B
c 2  a 2  b 2  2ab cos C

A. Given the two sides and the included angle of the oblique triangle.

Example:
Mario owns a triangular residential lot bounded by two roads which intersect at .
The sides of the lot along the road are 240m and 200m respectively. Find the length of
the fence needed to enclose the lot.
B

a. Find . A

𝑚
𝑚
√

C
The length of the fence needed to enclose the lot is 240m + 200m + 144.69m = 584.69m.

B. Given the sides of the oblique triangle.

Example 3:
A ship is 6 miles away from northeast part of a dock and 4 miles away north of a
lighthouse. If the lighthouse is 2.5 mile away from the dock, what is the angle created by
the ship and the lighthouse from the dock?

a 2  b 2  c 2  2bc cos A
(4) 2  (2.5) 2  (6) 2  2(2.5)(6) cos A
16  6.25  36  30 cos A
16  42.25  30 cos A
16  42.25  30 cos A
 26.25  30 cos A

 26.25  30 cos A  1 


 30 
0.875  cos A
A  cos1 0.875 The ship and the lighthouse formed an angle
of 28.96o from the dock.
A  28.96

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PART II. Activities
Solve the following completely. Write your solutions in you answer sheet.

Scoring Rubric:
Score Indicators
5 With proper illustrations/presentation, complete and correct answers, and
solutions.
4 With complete and correct answers and solutions but no illustrations.
3 With correct answer but partially incorrect solutions
2 Partially correct solutions but incorrect answer.
1 With correct answer but no solutions presented
0 No answer and solution presented

1. Gian and Mitzi are standing at the seashore 600 meters apart while observing a boat
in the sea. The coastline is a straight line between them. The boat and the coastline
formed a 35o angle from Gian. While the boat and the coastline formed a 45o angle
from Mitzi. How far is the ship from Gian?

2. Cardo is flying a kite with 250 feet of string released forming an angle 50o with
ground. Danny observes that the angle formed by the kite and the flier is 80 o. How far
is the kite from Danny?

3. Two wires which are attached to the top of the pole are 23 feet and 32 feet long. The
other ends of the wires are attached to two different trees with the pole in between
them. If the two wires formed an angle 102o at the top of the pole, how far are the two
trees from each other?

4. Two ships are 4.6 miles from each and are 2.81 and 4.52 miles respectively from the
observer. What is the angle formed by the two ships from the observer?

4. 73.61o (The angle formed by the two ships from the observer)
3. 43.12feet (Distance between the two trees)
2. 194.47 feet (Distance between the kite and Danny)
1. 430.81 meters (Distance between the ship and Gian)
Answer Key

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PART III. Assessment
Solve the following problems involving oblique triangles. Write your answer with
solutions in your answer sheets.

Scoring Rubric:
Score Indicators
5 With proper illustrations/presentation, complete and correct answers, and
solutions.
4 With complete and correct answers and solutions but no illustrations.
3 With correct answer but partially incorrect solutions
2 Partially correct solutions but incorrect answer.
1 With correct answer but no solutions presented
0 No answer and solution presented

1. The longer side of a parallelogram measures 20 centimeters. How long is the diagonal if
the angles between the sides and the diagonals are and respectively.

2. A triangular field has sides 120m, 150m, and 100m long. Find the angles of the field.

3. In a district jamborette, a bamboo pole with a flag at the top was erected by the Boys
Scouts in their camping area. To support the bamboo pole, two abaca ropes were
attached to the top of the pole and were anchored into the ground on opposite sides of
the pole at points A and B with a distance of 120 ft. and the angles of elevation of A and
B are 720 and 560 respectively. What are the lengths of the two abaca ropes?

4. A lighthouse in Barangay Lucap in Alaminos, Pangasinan is 1km from the Coast Guard
sub-station A and 4 km from a nearby urban hospital B. If the angle formed by the
Hospital and the Coast Guard sub-station A is 1500 from the lighthouse. What is the
distance between the Coast Guard sub-station and the urban hospital?

5. A plane is 280 meters from the watch tower. Eighty meters away from the tower, Mario is
observing the plane at an angle of 50 degrees. How far is the plane from Mario?

References:

Government of the Philippines. Department of Education. Project EASE ( Effective

Alternative Secondary Education). Mathematics IV Bureau of Secondary Education

New Integrated Approach in Math; Mary Fe-de Armas,Ph.D.

https://youtu.be/aFQGjmGObEM

onlinemathlearning.com

www.mastermathmentor.com by Stu Schwart