• chumbalumber@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    11 months ago

    Ratios can be used in trig – if it’s 1.5 times as long as it is tall, tan(\theta) = \frac{2}{3}, which then allows you to find the lengths of the other two sides easily so long as you have a calculator.

    • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      11 months ago

      Right, but why bring theta into it at all? TV screens are as a hypotenuse (a²+b²) with a fixed ratio (a/b=16/9), so you just need to solve for a and b.

      • chumbalumber@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        11 months ago

        You don’t have to, but it seems perfectly easy since you don’t have to write anything down to solve it. c*sin(arctan(b/a)) gives b, and c*cos(arctan(b/a)) gives a. I’m not disputing that you can do it without, but I don’t think it’s necessarily any quicker or easier.