There are three cases for the law of cosines and 2 cases for the law of sines: Case 1: a² = b²+c²-2·b·c·cos(A) when ∠A and ∠B are both acute angles.Draw altitude CD ⊥ AB. Label CD h for the height of ߡABC. Label the left part of c, AD as x and the right part of c DB as c-x. ߡADC and ߡBDC are right triangles, so by the Pythagorean theorem, h² = b²-x² and also h² = a²-(c-x)² Therefore equate their right sides: b²-x² = a²-(c-x)² b²-x² = a²-(c²-2cx+x²) b²-x² = a²-c²+2cx-x² Add x² to both sides: b² = a²-c²+2cx From ߡADC, = cos(A) or x = b·cos(A) Substituting that for x: b² = a²-c²+2c·b·cos(A) Isolate a² on the right side: b² + c² - 2c·b·cos(A) = a² That is equivalent to a² = b²+c²-2·c·b·cos(A) or since c·b = b·c, a² = b²+c²-2·b·c·cos(A) ----------------------- The law of sines for this case = sin(A) and = sin(B) h = b·sin(A) and h =a·sin(B) So b·sin(A) = a·sin(B) Divide both sides by sin(A)sin(B) = That's not complete yet, for we haven't shown that those equal to but it will be when we finish the next case. -------------------------------------------- a² = b²+c²-2·b·c·cos(A) when ∠A is acute and ∠B is obtuse. Extend AB and draw CD ⊥ AB. Label CD h for the height of ߡABD. Label the left part of c, AD as x and the right part of c DB as c-x. ߡADC and ߡBDC are right triangles, so by the Pythagorean theorem, h² = b²-(c+x)² and also h² = a²-x² Therefore equate their right sides: b²-(c+x)² = a²-x² b²-(c²+2cx+x²) = a²-x² b²-c²-2cx-x² = a²-x² Add x² to both sides: b²-c²-2cx = a² From ߡADC, = cos(A) c+x = b·cos(A) x = b·cos(A)-c Substituting in b²-c²-2cx = a² b²-c²-2c(b·cos(A)-c) = a² b²-c²-2·c·b·cos(A)+2c² = a² b²+c²-2·c·b·cos(A) = a² That is equivalent to a² = b²+c²-2·c·b·cos(A) or since c·b = b·c, a² = b²+c²-2·b·c·cos(A) --------------------------- The law of sines for this case = sin(A) and = sin(∠CBD) h = b·sin(A) and h =a·sin(∠CBD) So b·sin(A) = a·sin(∠CBD) Divide both sides by sin(A)sin(∠CBD) = Now we use the fact that the sine of an angle is equal to the sine of its supplement. Therefore if we erase the extended part we can label ∠CBD as ∠B. = The law of sines is now complete for the first case was for two angles being acute, and this case is for when one angle is obtuse. Since the other two angles are necessarily acute, the first case takes care of them and we have the complete law of sines: = = ------------------------------------ To prove the law of cosines when A is an obtuse angle, we have to accept the definition from xy-plane trigonometry that cos(180°-A) = -cos(A). We'll just take the above triangle and swap angles A and B and sides a and b: Extend BA and draw CD ⊥ BD. Label CD h for the height of ߡABC. Label the extended segment, AD, as x. ߡADC and ߡBDC are right triangles, so by the Pythagorean theorem, h² = b²-x² and h² = a²-(c+x)² Therefore equate their right sides: b²-x² = a²-(c+x)² b²-x² = a²-(c²+2cx+x²) b²-x² = a²-c²-2cx-x² Add x² to both sides: b² = a²-c²-2cx From ߡADC, = cos(CAD), x = b·cos(CAD) and since ∠CAD and ∠BAC are supplementary, cos(∠CAD) = -cos(∠BAC) and x = -b·cos(∠BAC) b² = a²-c²-2cx becomes: b² = a²-c²-2c[-b·cos(∠BAC)] b² = a²-c²+2c·b·cos(∠BAC) Isolate a² on the right b²+c²-2c·b·cos(∠BAC) = a² which is equivalent to a² = b²+c²-2c·b·cos(∠BAC) or since c·b = b·c, a² = b²+c²-2·b·c·cos(∠BAC) and if we erase the extended segment x, we can write ∠BAC as ∠A and have a² = b²+c²-2·b·c·cos(A) --------------------------- Edwin