Trigonometry

Trigonometry is the branch of mathematics that deals with the relationships between the sides and angles of triangles and with the properties and applications of the trigonometric functions of angles. The two branches of trigonometry are plane trigonometry, which deals with figures lying wholly in a single plane, and spherical trigonometry, which deals with triangles that are sections of the surface of a sphere.

The earliest applications of trigonometry were in the fields of navigation, surveying, and astronomy, in which the main problem generally was to determine an inaccessible distance, such as the distance between the earth and the moon, or of a distance that could not be measured directly, such as the distance across a large lake. Other applications of trigonometry are found in physics, chemistry, and almost all branches of engineering, particularly in the study of periodic phenomena, such as vibration studies of sound, a bridge, or a building, or the flow of alternating current.