Law of Sines
Also known as sine rule
Worked example: a = 10 m, A = 30°, B = 45° → b = 10√2 = 14.1421 m — press Try an example to run it live, then adjust anything.
Enter your known values, leave one input blank, and solves for the missing one. Tap a variable’s symbol to see what it means, with a typical value. Try different units for next level excitement!
The sine law →
Grade 11Grade 11 Math — Functions & Applications
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Law of Sines explained
The law of sines says every triangle keeps a fixed exchange rate between sides and the sines of their opposite angles — bigger angle, proportionally bigger opposite side. (The common ratio is in fact the diameter of the triangle's circumscribed circle.) It is the tool of choice when you know an angle–side opposite pair: navigators and surveyors have leaned on it for centuries, since two sighted angles and one measured baseline pin down every other distance by triangulation. Example: a baseline b = 100 m with angles A = 40° and B = 65° gives a = 100 × sin 40° / sin 65° ≈ 70.9 m — no tape measure across the river required.
The solver handles this law for the sides only. Solving for an angle would require arcsin, and the principal branch cannot tell an acute angle from its obtuse supplement — the classic ambiguous SSA case, where two different triangles fit the same data. The side rearrangements are single-valued closed forms with no such trap.
Law of Sines formula
- = Side a (m)
- = Angle A (opposite side a) (°)
- = Side b (m)
- = Angle B (opposite side b) (°)
Missing one of these? Work it out first, then come back
- Side a — Triangle Perimeter, Parallelogram Perimeter
- Angle A (opposite side a) — Circular Sector Area, Arc Length
- Side b — Triangle Perimeter, Parallelogram Perimeter
- Angle B (opposite side b) — Circular Sector Area, Arc Length