Question 143235
Tangent = opposite/adjacent

See here for a good picture --> http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/sincos.html

When thinking about sine, cosine and tangent, one has to think about which vertex of the triangle you are referencing. Assume you pick one vertex, then the adjacent leg is the one that 'touches' your vertex. The hypotenuse is always the 'long side'. make sense?

When you have an angle, and also one of the sides (but not a second side), you setup the ratios as you nothed above, and then use your calculator to find the sine or cosine ro tangent of the angle. The cross multiply to find the unknown side.