Logistic Growth

Last time we looked at the meaning of exponential growth, a term commonly used in describing the initial spread of a virus such as the current SARS2 (which causes COVID-19). But exponential growth can’t continue forever, as it would soon exceed the total population. A slightly more complicated model for growth that takes into account …

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Exponential Growth

The term “exponential” has gone viral, so to speak. Do we all know what it means? In the next few posts I’ll look at answers we’ve given to questions about exponential growth and related concepts, some of them about the spread of diseases or rumors. (Disclaimer: I will be writing about the basic math, not …

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Oblique Triangles in Applications

Having just looked at how to solve oblique triangles, let’s look at a couple “word problems” (applications) involving such triangles. We’ll be using the Law of Sines, and also exploring alternative methods of solution.

Solving an Oblique Triangle, Part II

Last time we looked at solving triangles in the ASA, AAS, SSS, and SAS cases. We have one more case, which tends to be a little more complicated: the “ambiguous case”, SSA.

Proving the Law of Cosines

Last week we looked at several proofs of the Law of Sines. Here we will see a couple proofs of the Law of Cosines; they are more or less equivalent, but take different perspectives – even one from before trigonometry and algebra were invented!

Proving the Law of Sines

Two of the most useful facts in trigonometry are the Law of Sines and the Law of Cosines (sometimes called the Sine Rule or Sine Formula, and the Cosine Rule or Cosine Formula). Over the years we were often asked where they come from (or are just asked about them, and reflexively offer proofs). There …

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