Trigonometry word is formed from the ancient Greek words “trigonon” and “metron” which mean triangle and measure respectively, thus collectively Trigonometry mean measures of a triangle. Historians believe that in ancient Greece, a mathematician named Hipparchus was the first to introduce the idea of trigonometry by giving the first tables of chords which is the modern-day equivalent to the table of values of trigonometric ratio sine. Other than Greece, roots of this subject are also found in ancient India where Aryabhatta (an Indian mathematician and astronomer) documented the modern intuition of trigonometric ratios.
What is Trigonometry?
Trigonometry is the branch of mathematics that deals with the side and angles of a triangle, especially the right angle triangle i.e., a triangle with one angle right angle. Other than right angles, trigonometry is helpful in many different geometric figures, either 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional. Studies of Trigonometry can be classified into three parts which are as follows:
- Core Trigonometry (deal with right angle triangles only)
- Plane Trigonometry (deals with all types of 2-dimensional geometry)
- Spherical Trigonometry (deals with all types of 3-dimension geometry)
Trigonometry Basics