Lesson 3 - (Sullivan, 8.

1)

Applications

During World War II, a British scientist named Barnes Wallis developed a cylindrical bomb,
sometimes called a “skip bomb”, that was designed to blow up German dams.

The dams were a significant part of the German infrastructure. They provided electricity and water,
and were also used to control water levels in canals. It was believed that a blow to the dams would
greatly impair the German war effort.

The problem was that regular bombs would not work. To be effective, the bomb needed to explode
beneath the surface, and the water was likely to cushion the impact of the explosion unless the
bomb was right next to the dam. Torpedos dropped from torpedo bombers also would not work
because the Germans had set up nets specifically to prevent such an attack.

The skip bomb was designed to be dropped from a low flying plane approaching the dam. It would
skip across the surface of the water right up the dam and then sink. A mechanism on the bomb
would then cause it to detonate at a certain depth, right next to the dam.

Wallace determined that the bombs had to be dropped at a speed of 230 mph from a height of just
60 feet above the water. A special squadron of British pilots known as the Dam Busters was trained
for a mission on which they would attach three German dams, the Mohne, Eder, and Sorpe Dams
on the Ruhr in Germany. The Dam Busters destroyed the Mohne and Eder Dams, striking a serious
blow to the German war machine, but lost 53 soldiers in the attacks.

The aircraft used in the raids was the Avro Lancaster, a British four-engine heavy bomber. One
problem that had to solved dealt with the altitude of the bomber. It had to be flown at the
dangerously low altitude of 60 feet, and it had to hold this altitude while the bombadier released the
bomb. The planes had no instruments that could measure this altitude accurately. The question,
then, was how to know that the plane was flying at exactly 60 feet above the water.

The problem was solved by using two flashlights, one in the nose of the plane and one toward the
back.

The flashlights were mounted at fixed angles, and were

a fixed distance apart. The two angles and the distance
between the flashlights determined a unique triangle,
and the flashlights could be aimed so that the beams
met at a point exactly 60 feet below the plane. The pilot
could watch the water below and adjust the altitude until
the two beams met on the surface of the water.

Page 6 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

 Suppose a pilot has mounted lights on his plane at
the particular angles shown. The distance between
the mount points is 46 feet. Your job is to check the
pilot’s calculations. At these positions and angles,
what height above the water will the plane be when
the beams of light intersect on the surface of the
water.

Practice Problems for Lesson 3 (Sullivan, Section 8.1, pages 488 - 493):
Applications: 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 41
‘ Do HW 8A

Page 7 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Lesson 4 - (Sullivan, 8.2)

The Law of Cosines

Consider a triangle placed with one vertex at the origin

and its base along the x-axis. Situated this way, the
other two vertices will be at

(b, 0) and (a cos γ, a sin γ)

We can use the distance formula to find the value of
.

This formula is known as the Law of Cosines. Note what it says:

The square of one side of a triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides
minus two times the product of the other two sides and the angle between them.

The formula itself looks a bit like the Pythagorean Theorem. Take note of what happens if we apply
this formula to a right triangle.

In this case, γ is a right angle. When apply the formula

We note that cos 90 = 0, and the equation reduces to

The Pythagorean Theorem can be considered a special case of the Law of Cosines.

Page 8 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Example:

Find c

Example:

Find angles A, B, and C

Practice Problems for Lesson 4 (Sullivan, Section 8.2, pages 496 - 497):
The Law of Cosines: 1 - 17 odd, 23, 25, 27, 31

Page 9 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Lesson 5 - (Sullivan, 8.3)

The Area of a Triangle

Consider triangle ABC. Imagine adding a height h.

Now think about the sine of angle A:

The base of the triangle is b. The height of the triangle is h, and h is CsinA. The area, then, is

Take note of the quantities in the above equation: sides b and c, and angle A. We have two sides
and their included angle.

The equation we have derived is actually a general equation

The area of a triangle is half the product of two sides and the sine of the included angle.

Example:

Find the area of the triangle shown

Page 10 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Heron’s Formula

If we know the three sides of a triangle, but not any angles, we can still find the area of the triangle
using a formula known as Heron’s Formula:

where

Example:

Find the area of the triangle shown.

Practice Problems for Lesson 5 (Sullivan, Section 8.3, pages 504 - 505):
The Area of a Triangle: 1 - 19 odd
‘ Do HW 8B

Page 11 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Lesson 6 - (Sullivan, 8.4)

Polar Coordinates

Up to now, we have been using a Cartesian coordinate system, in which the coordinate plane is
sectioned by x and y axes.

The Cartesian coordinate system allows us to locate points (or lines or curves) in the plane by using
x and y coordinates.

Now that we know some trigonometry, we can make use of another system for locating points and
curves in the plane, the polar coordinate system.

Instead of the “origin”, we have a central point called the pole.

The polar axis lies where we would normally put the positive x-axis.

A point is represented by two numbers, an ordered pair. We use (r,

θ) instead of (x, y).

The two numbers r and θ are called the polar coordinates of the point.

Example:

Point P is at a distance r from the origin, or pole.

Point P is at an angle θ counterclockwise from the polar axis.

We say that point P has polar coordinates (r, θ).

You should see that any point in the plane can be specified this way.

Page 12 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Example: Plot the following points on the polar coordinate system shown.

(1, π)

Also note that θ can be negative

And also note that r can be negative

One of the points in the above list, (3, 9π/4), illustrates that in polar coordinates, a given point may
have more than one set of coordinates. The same point could also be

Any given point has an infinite number of pairs of polar coordinates.

In general, a point (r, θ) can also be represented as

or

Example: For the point , find other polar coordinates such that r > 0 and

Page 13 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Example: For the point , find other polar coordinates such that r < 0 and

Example: For the point , find other polar coordinates such that r > 0 and

The question is sometimes asked, “Why do we need polar coordinates? Don’t we already have a
perfectly good system of rectangular coordinates? Why complicate things unnecessarily by adding
an entire additional system?”

The answer is that in some situations, polar coordinates are more intuitive and simple to deal with.

Page 14 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Think about this example of a coordinate system that you are probably already familiar with.

We specify a point on the surface of the earth by giving its

latitude and longitude.

The latitude is the number of degrees east or west of the

prime meridian, and the longitude is the number of
degrees north or south of the equator.

This is an example not of a polar coordinate system, but

of a spherical coordinate system. But it does demonstrate
that sometimes a non-rectangular coordinate system is
useful or even preferable. Locating a point on the surface
of the Earth by its latitude and longitude is remarkably
simple.

Polar coordinates are often used in navigation. A destination can be given as an angle and a
distance from the current location. Situations than demonstrate radial symmetry are often described
in polar coordinates. For example, the groundwater flow in an aquifer is described by equations in
polar coordinates, as are the pickup patterns for microphones. In all of these situations, polar
coordinates are more natural to work with than rectangular coordinates.

Practice Problems for Lesson 6 (Sullivan, Section 8.4, pages 513 - 514):
Polar Coordinates: 1 - 19 odd

Page 15 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Lesson 7 - (Sullivan, 8.4)

Polar and Rectangular Conversion

We use our right triangle definitions of sine and cosine to understand how to convert between polar
and rectangular coordinates.

In the diagram shown, point P corresponds to a rotation

through angle θ around a circle of radius r. We say that point
P, in polar coordinates, is

In rectangular coordinates, point P has coordinates

The question is: How are x and y related to r and θ ?

We can draw a right triangle whose dimensions are determined by point P. The legs of the triangle
will be x and y, and the hypotenuse will be r.

From our definition of cosine, we get

From our definition of sine, we get

These formulas work regardless of the sign of r and θ.

We need to be able to do four things:

1) Convert rectangular coordinates to polar.

2) Convert polar coordinates to rectangular.
3) Convert equations from rectangular to polar form.
4) Convert equations from polar to rectangular form.

We will look at each of these by example.

Page 16 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Converting rectangular coordinates to polar coordinates

Example: Find the polar coordinates of the points shown.

C: (3, 4) F: (-4.33, 2.5)

H: (2.6, -1.7)
D: (0, 4)

Page 17 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Converting polar coordinates to rectangular coordinates

Example: Find the rectangular coordinates of the points shown.

A: r = 4, θ = π/4

B: r = 5.5, θ = 5π/6

C: r = 3.61, θ = 212.3E

Page 18 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

To convert between rectangular and polar form, we use the equations

x = r cos θ y = r sin θ

and we simply substitute and simplify

Converting rectangular equations to polar equations

Example: Convert to polar form.

Example: Convert to polar form.

Page 19 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens

Converting Polar Equations to Rectangular Equations

Example: Convert to rectangular form.

Practice Problems for Lesson 7 (Sullivan, Section 8.4, pages 513 - 514):
Polar and Rectangular Conversion: 21 - 63 odd
‘ Do HW 8C

Page 20 - Precalculus, Ch 8, © 2006 by Derek Owens