Trigonometry!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Question

If the tangent of an acute angle is 1/4, what is the cosine of that angle?

Answer 1

Tangent = opposite side of right triangle divided by adjacent side of right triangle.

cosine = adjacent side of right triangle divided by hypotenuse.

You were given tan(x) = 1/4, which tells me that the opposite side is 1 and the adjacent side is 4.

We use the Pythagorean Theorem from geometry to find the hypotenuse.

Let A = hypotenuse.

(1)² + (4)² = A²

1 + 16 = A²

A² = 17

Taking the square root of both sides, we get A = √17.

Like I said before, cosine = adjacent side of right triangle divided by hypotenuse.

Then cos(x) = 4/√17.