Cosine: How cos 45° is equal to √2 / 2 in a right-angled triangle?

cos 45°

√2/ 2

cos 45° is equal to √2 / 2.

To explain this further, we first need to understand what cosine means. In a right-angled triangle, cosine is the ratio of the adjacent side to the hypotenuse. In other words, it is the length of the side next to the angle (which is 45° in this case) divided by the length of the longest side of the triangle.

Now, since we know that the angle is 45°, we can draw the right-angled triangle and label the sides. If we assume that the hypotenuse has a length of 1 (which is common), then we can find the adjacent side using the Pythagorean theorem.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

where c is the hypotenuse, and a and b are the other two sides.

In this case, we have:

a^2 + b^2 = 1^2

a^2 + b^2 = 1

Since we know that the angle is 45°, we can also see that the two other angles in the triangle are also 45° each. Therefore, the triangle is an isosceles right-angled triangle, which means that a = b.

Substituting this into the equation above, we get:

a^2 + a^2 = 1

2a^2 = 1

a^2 = 1 / 2

a = √2 / 2

Therefore, cos 45° (which is the ratio of the adjacent side to the hypotenuse) is equal to √2 / 2.

More Answers:
Learn the Value of tan 60° – Simplify Your Math Calculations with √3.
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