Right triangle trigonometry is only for right triangles. To find out if one triangle is right, when you know the sides of the triangle, you use the converse of the Pythagorean Theorem. It states that given the three sides of a triangle, the triangle is right if applying the Pythagorean Theorem (taking the longest side as the hypotenuse) you end up with a true equality statement. If this is not the case: when the square of the longest side is greater than the sum of the squares of the other two, you have an obtuse triangle; if this sum is less then it is an acute triangle. Interact with the below applet and verify in a visual, and dynamic way this relationship. Drag the highlighted point in the triangle to animate.
Didn't you find what you were looking for? Do your search here!
