5.2 Law of Cosines

OpenStax Precalculus 2e — Chapter 8, Section 8.2

Learning Objectives

  • State the Law of Cosines: \(c^2 = a^2 + b^2 - 2ab\cos C\)

  • Solve oblique triangles given SAS information

  • Solve oblique triangles given SSS information

  • Recognize the Law of Cosines as a generalization of the Pythagorean theorem

Key Concepts

To be filled during study.

Practice Problems

To be completed with textbook exercises.

Section Summary

To be written after completing the section.

Study Notes

Personal observations and connections to engineering work.