A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the ratio for solving problems involving triangles where the angles measured 45°, 45°, and 90°.
Today, I’d like to look at the ratio for the sides of a triangle where the angles measure 30°, 60°, and 90°.
Perhaps it might be better to talk about the 30-90-60 triangle. I realize I’ve set them in a different order, but you’ll see why in a moment.
The ratio for the 30-90-60 triangle is 1: 2: √3. That is, 1 represents the short leg of the triangle. The 2 represents the hypotenuse. The √3 represents the long leg of the triangle. Now you see why I switched them around.
Like the 45-45-90 triangle, you put the measure of the side you already know, and place a variable over the side you need to know. Then you solve it like a proportion, just as you did with the 45-45-90 triangle.
