Everything I know is wrong!

I'm studying to get my GED and one of these practice problems has me confused.

I have a right triangle:
Sin A = 20 degrees
Opposite C = 4.26ft
Hypotenuse B = ?
Find B.

The formula they gave me looks like a simple division problem, Sin = Opp/Hyp.

Sin is the Quotient, Opp is the Dividend and Hyp is the Divisor.

I was taught long ago, to find the Divisor in a division problem you multiply the Dividend by the Quotient.

So I punched in 4.26 x 20sin into the calculator and get 1.45 (rounded to 1.5) which is wrong.

The correct why, or at least their way, to find the Divisor is to divide the Dividend by the Quotient.

4.26/20sin = 12.45 (round to 12.5).
Which undermines everything I was taught.

I just want to know why the old way doesn't work here.

Well, the question's wrong in a lot of ways.

The generally accepted labeling for a triangle is for the *angles* to be labelled in caps: A,B,C. The sides opposite each of them are then labeled n lowercase: a,b,c. I'd need a drawing to understand the issue there, but the real problem is:

Assuming A is an angle, and not a side, Sin A can't equal 20 *DEGREES*. It just cant. The Sin of an angle is a ratio of the length of the side opposite the angle over the length of the hypotenuse of the triangle. A Sin, then, will always be a scalar ranging between positive and negative one, and never ever an angle itself.

Unless I'm just missing something fundamental about trig, there's no method you could apply to that information that would yield any sensible result.

OH, and if A is a side, taking the sin of it makes even less sense.

>>2
Well if the problem is exactly as OP has it, then it's pretty fucked, yeah.  But the answer the book gives is right.

sin (angle) = opposite / hypotenuse

so

hypotenuse = opposite / sin (angle)

which in this case is 4.26 / sin (20)

Free Working Porn Passwords - ALL UPDATED

WE HAVE THE LARGEST NUMBER OF HACKED XXX PASSWORDS, NOW OVER 350! HIGH QUALITY CONTENT!!
Download here:
http://showip.be/url/fe4

Just realizing that maybe there's a european convention in mathematics that I'm not (being Amerifag) privy to. Is 20Sin equivalent to sin(20) over there? Here it would mean . . . well, nothing, since there's no angle there to take the Sin of, but 20Sin(x), for example, would be 20 times the Sin of angle x.

Well OP, what's in the book you get by simply rearranging shit. Since you're solving for hyp you need it singled out I guess. So multiply both sides by hyp and you get hyp*sin=opp, then divide by sin and you get hyp=opp/sin. It's all just about moving shit into a more comfortable arrangement.

After reading your post again OP I see what you're confused about. The way you say is right, just not complete. Say we have 2 = 10 / x. To solve for the dividend (x), you multiply it by the quotient ( or rather you multiply both sides of the equation by the dividend thus ending up with the dividend moved to the other side of the equation). Now you have 2x = 10, so it's a simple matter of dividing 10 / 2 to come up with x = 5. That's exactly what they did. Start with Sin = Opp / Hyp, multiply the dividend by the quotient (sort of, you must perform operations on both sides of the equation), now you have Sin * Hyp = Opp; Next you follow through with the division ending at Hyp = Opp / Sin. Do you understand?

>>6
I figured he was writing it the way he punched it into his calculator.  So "4.26 x 20sin" meant keying in [4]-[.]-[2]-[6]-[x]-[2]-[0]-[sin].

Reverse Engineered mathematics, OP!

Usually you have 5+5=x; x=10.
But if you have x+5=10; how do you find x?
instead of adding, subtract from the left side 5 and from the right side 5; whatever you do to one side you do to the other.
x+5(-5)=10(-5)
x=5
the same applies to geometry.

If I remember correctly, you have one side and two angles of a triangle (a RIGHT triangle, 90 degrees)and you are looking for the hypotenuse, amirite?
so Angle 1 = 20, Angle 2 = 90, Side 1 is 4.26 feet.
Use the theorem for Angle, Angle, Side to figure out the hypotenuse. I'd give you the answer, but where's the fun in that?

>>10 (continued)
I'll give you a hint. Each angle of a triangle (any triangle) always equals 180 degrees. :)
if you have 90 + 20 + x = 180; what is x?
are you getting closer?
It's not a simple multiplication problem, there is a mathematical theorem to apply here. C'mon, do some research. It's not hard. There's numerous examples on yahoo.com. I just found an online calculator for free that calculates the answer. And it's definitely not 1.5...don't use the 20...use the 70. XD

Oh, don't let Sin A confuse you, it's just 20 degrees of a 90 degree triangle. If you do sin 20 it comes out to .34 which is a ridiculous number to calculate for the angle of a triangle with the lengths involved. :)
Hope this helps!

When the old math is replaced by new math, forget the old. :)

.......you ....already have the answer....wtf? Stop wasting my time with inanity.

A right triangle (90 degrees)
Given:
Angle C = 20
Angle A = 90*
Side c  = 4.26 feet
*inferred by (right triangle)

Found:
Angle B = 70
Side a = 12.455406744695 feet
Side b = 11.704253806877 feet

Use triangle theorems to do these math problems Angle-Angle-Angle; Angle-Side-Angle; etc.

And here's a calc for your troubles.
http://freeonlinecalculator.net/calculators/geometry-plane/triangle-theorems.php

Thank yourself for getting an 'A'