Triangle The acronym "SOH-CAH-TOA" is a useful mnemonic for these ratios. The inverse trigonometric functions can be used to calculate the internal angles for a right angled triangle with the length of any two sides. Arcsin can be used to calculate an angle from the length of the opposite side and the length of the hypotenuse. Arccos can be used to calculate an angle from the length of the adjacent side and the length of the hypotenuse. Arctan can be used to calculate an angle from the length of the opposite side and the length of the adjacent side. In introductory
Gauss's Pythagorean right triangle proposal Gauss's Pythagorean right triangle proposal Gauss's Pythagorean right triangle proposal is an idea attributed to Carl Friedrich Gauss for a method to signal extraterrestrial beings by constructing an immense right triangle and three squares on the surface of the Earth. The shapes would be a symbolical representation of the Pythagorean theorem, large enough to be seen from the Moon or Mars. Although credited in numerous sources as originating with Gauss, with exact details of the proposal set out, the specificity of detail, and even whether Gauss made the proposal, have been called into question. Many of the earliest sources do