What is the purpose of the cotangent, secant, and cosecant?

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hachatpg9 · Accepted Answer

Naming RatiosFor 3 numbers there are 6 ratios that can be made.  Three of the ratios are named by the terms sine, cosine, and tangent; using those three terms, we can name all six ratios.Avoiding division.Example:If we know that the angle of elevation to the top of a 12 meter tall building is 40∘ and we want to find the distance to the building, call it x we could use 12x=tan⁡40∘ so x=12tan⁡40∘  Now we get a decimal approximation for tan⁡40∘≈0.8391 and do the division.  OR use x12=cot⁡40∘ so x=12cot⁡40∘=  We get cot⁡40∘≈1.1918 and multiply.Also, in calculus many of us prefer to work with multiplication of functions rather than division and prefer, for example, y=x3cot⁡x rather than y=x3tan⁡x

supermamanswtk · Accepted Answer

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What is the purpose of the cotangent, secant, and cosecant?

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