Mathematics · trigonometry

Trigonometry & Pythagoras

Solve any right triangle, and watch the unit circle trace sine and cosine live.
a² + b² = c²
3-4-5 triangle

Right triangle

any two

Pythagorean triples

The triangle

Unit circle

speed
All values
Field notes

The relationships worth memorising

Using this tool

Pythagoras and SOH-CAH-TOA in one place

Every right triangle is governed by two things: the Pythagorean theorem (a² + b² = c², relating the two legs to the hypotenuse) and SOH-CAH-TOA (sin = opposite/hypotenuse, cos = adjacent/hypotenuse, tan = opposite/adjacent, relating an angle to the side ratios). Between the two, knowing any two values — two sides, or one side and one angle — is enough to solve for everything else.

Worked example

A ladder leaning against a wall, 5 m long, with its base 3 m from the wall, reaches 4 m up the wall (3-4-5) — and makes an angle of 36.87° with the ground, since sin⁻¹(3/5) = 36.87°.

Why does the unit circle explain sine and cosine?

A point moving around a circle of radius 1 has coordinates (cos θ, sin θ) by definition — the triangle formed by that point, the centre, and the x-axis is a right triangle with hypotenuse 1, so "opposite over hypotenuse" is just the y-coordinate, and "adjacent over hypotenuse" is just the x-coordinate.

Why does the sine wave look like that?

It's the same rotation, just unwrapped — plot the circle's y-coordinate against the angle travelled instead of against the x-coordinate, and the smooth up-down oscillation of a wave is exactly what falls out. This is literally how the wave gets traced in the animation above.

What's a Pythagorean triple?

A set of three whole numbers that satisfy a² + b² = c² exactly — 3-4-5 is the smallest and most famous, but there are infinitely many (5-12-13, 8-15-17, 7-24-25...), and any multiple of a triple (6-8-10, 9-12-15) is also a valid triple.

Does this work for non-right triangles?

Not directly — a general triangle needs the Law of Sines or Law of Cosines instead, since SOH-CAH-TOA and a²+b²=c² both specifically rely on one angle being exactly 90°.