How do you get tan 60?

1 Answer
Alan P.
Oct 19, 2015

#tan(60^@) = sqrt(3)#

Explanation:

Consider the equilateral triangle below:
enter image source here
with sides of length #2# by bisecting the upper angle we get a right-angled triangle with sides #(1, sqrt(3), 2)# (the length #sqrt(3)# is calculated using the Pythagorean Theorem)

By definition #tan = ("length of opposite side")/("length of adjacent side")#

In this case
#color(white)("XXX")tan(60^@) = sqrt(3)/1#

Related questions
See all questions in Trigonometric Functions of Any Angle
Impact of this question
3837 views around the world
You can reuse this answer
Creative Commons License